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THE 

H  I  S  T  O  R  Y 

OF   THE 

UNITED  STATES 

FOR  1796  ; 

INCLUDING  A  VARIETY  OF 
\ 

INTERESTING  PARTICULARS 

RELATIVE  TO  THE 

FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT 

PREVIOUS  TO  THAT  PERIOD.  $ 


PHILADELPHIA: 


FROM  THE  PRESS  OF  SWOWDEN  &  M^CQRKLE% 

NO.  47,   NORTH  FOURTH-STREET* 
J797. 


fccutct)  accortung  to 


CON     TENT     S. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Firft  Jeffion  of  the  fourth  Congrefs  .—Refolution  pro- 
pojed  by  Mr.,  S.  Smith  for  t  becking  the  Britifo 
treaty. — Hints  refpetiing  that  paper. — Attempts- 
to  involve  America  in  a  French  "war. — Sketch. of 
the  flat e  of  France,  by  Edmund  Burke. — Contra/I 
between  her  and  the  United  States. — Scanty  pay 
of  the  Federal  army. — Fatal  effects  of  a  rupture 
with  France. — 'Camillus. — His  miftakes  as  to  the 
flate  of  Europe. — Mr.  Pinckney. — His  opinion  of 
the  advantage  of  delaying  a  Britifh  treaty. — At~ 
tempts  to  irritate  France. — 'Extreme  danger  of 
doing  fo. — Real  authors  of  the  mifunderftanding. — - 
Montgaillard's  prediction. — Notice  to  the  patronr 
of  a  certain  gazette. — Concluding  remarks,  1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Character  of  Mr.   Gallatin. — Connecticut  poetry.—* 
Major    Jack/on. — John    Watts. — The    B  oft  on 

Federal  Orrery . Cur  tins . His    exaggerated 

ftatemcnt  of  Britifli  refourccs  *— Remarks  on  paper 


money. — Cnufes  of  the  preference  of  Britain  to 
France  in  the  federal  party. — Democratical  con» 
*  /piracy  developed  by  Curtius. — Defence  ofjejfer- 
Jbn,  Madijon,  Giles,  Parker •,  Chriftie,  &c. — Fables 
from  Pittfburgh. — Curious  prejentment  -by  a  grand 
jury  in  Georgia.^— Purity  of  Bofton,  31 


CHAPTER    III. 

Federal  artifices    to  promote  a  French  quarrel. — 
Howe's  landing  at  the  head  of  Elk. — Jacobins  not 
•worfe  than  other  people. — Burgoyne's  picture  of 
the  Britifli  Baft-India  Company. — Recent ftoppage 
of  the  bank  of  Enghind. — Robefpierre  eclipjed  by 
Pitt* — Amount  of  the  yearlv  rental  of  Britain. — 
Not?  OH  the  Jlate-houje  of  Hartford. — Number  of 
the  public  creditors  of  England. — The  triumph  of 
Cttmillus  .-*~  Moral  certainty  of  American  indemni- 
fication, for  Britifli  piracy. ^-Mercantile  apathv  for 
the  jitfferings  of  American  Jeamen. — Impr cement 
at  Jercmie. — Pinckney. — jfoy. — Neck  or  nothing 
forgeries  of  Pitt. — Dependence  of  the  Britifli  Weft- 
Indies  on  the  United  States.- — Fallacies  of  Camil- 
Ins . -r—l^hat  Jay  fkould have  Jaid  %o  Grenville,    7  4 


CHAPTER  IV, 

fnttfh  piracies  on  Americ 'an  flipping  in  1796. — Cafe 
ofthe/chooner  John . — Of  Capt *  Samuel  Green  .-*— 
Britifli  privateers  built  in  the  United  States." — 
Skirmi/h  in  Port  Jeremie  between  the  Americans 
and  Capt.  Reynolds. — Impreffments  by  the  Severn^ 
the  Hermoine,  and  the  Regiilus. — Tivelve  Ameri- 
cans iv hip t. — Cafe  of  the  brig  Fanny. — Of  the /hip 
Bacchus. — The  Siv allow. —The  Paragon. — The 


Fol'upias . — The  Lydia .  —  The  Hannah  .—Fray  at 
Liverpool  ;  and  rout  of  a  profs-gang. — The  Friend- 
fhip. — The  Ocean. — Letter  from  Samue  I  Bayard. — > 
The  brig  Pojly. — Vigilance  of  the  .American  to- 
ries. — The  Hannah  of  Baltimore. — The  /hip  Di- 
na,  of  New-Tor k. — The  /hip  Polly^  Captain 

-         122 


CHAPTER  V. 

Federal  plan  for  a  French  War. — Specimen  of  French 
juflice. — The  Sea  Plorfe. — The  Mufquitq. — Re- 
marks on  the  Bntijh  treaty  by  Mr.  Gallatin. — 
Reply  by  Mr.  Tracy. — Hints  an  the.iucfi^rn  in- 
fur  region. — Cafe  of  the  brig  Maria  fr^il'/nan,  cap- 
tain Oaks . — Thcrfchooner '  fFilliam^  captain  Scoh. 
Defpotic  influence  of  the  tories  in  American  fe a- 
ports. — 'Elegant  ftyle  offome  of  their  publications. 

*'  The  Polfyj  captain  Wade. — The  Edward  and 
HSilliam,  captain  Jones.— The  Ariel.^-The  bri% 
Sifters .— Capture  of  the  brig  Jay,  by  the  French, 
and  barbarous  treatment  of  the  captain.-~*Mr* 
JAY'S  IN  STRUCT  IONS.  ~Extrac~ls  from  them  NE- 
VER BEFORE  publi/hed.~~ Proofs  of  his  neglect  of 
ordei's. — Anecdotes  relative  to  the  Britijh 
treaty^  -  151 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Britifli  depredations  continued^ — Mercantile  felfi/h~ 
nefs. — The  brig  Fame. — The  Jchooner  Andrew. — 
Jofhua  Whiting. — The  brig  Columbia. — Thcjloop 
Do-us. — The  May  Flower.— The  Eliza. — Murder 
of  captain  Boffbn. — Snuff*  E!xcife. — Memoirs  of 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  late  "Secretary  of  the 


Trea/tiry.—His  fmgular  mode  of  correspondence 
-with  certain  perjbns. — Remarks  on  his  connexion 
-with  Reynolds,  -  l89 

CHAPTER  VII.        .% 

Farther  observations  on  the  correfpondence  between 
Meffrs.  Hamilton  and  Reynolds  .—Singular  mode 
offecrecv  in  framing  the  federal  conftitution,  and 
of  difcufjin?  Jav's  treaty.— Defence  of  General 
Mafon.— Report  to  Preftdent  Adams,  by  Mr. 
Pickering  on  French  captures  .—Singular  Jtyle  of 
thatpaper.— Defamatory  charge  by  Judge  Iredell 
to  a  grand  jury  in  Virginia.— Their  pitiful  pre- 
rentment.—  Defence  of  Mr.  Cabell.— Curious  let- 
ter to  Mr.  John  Bcckley.—Obferoations^  on  the 
PURITY  of  the  federal  government. — Specimens  of 
the  mode  of  travelling  in  America.— A  trip  to 
New-Fork^ 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Proceeding   of  Congrefs.-Affair    of  Randall  and 
JPTutney.—Pte*  of  appointing  a  JJior t- hand  wri- 
ter.—Debates  on  the  federal  city.— Aft  of  Appro- 
priation.—Debates  on   the  call  for  Jay's  injlruc- 
tions.— Strange  anfwer  of  the  Prcfident.-— Appro- 
priations  fa  the  "Bntijh  treaty. -Explanation  of 
the  conduct  of  Mr.  Muhlenberg.— Singular  multi- 
plicity of  petitions  in  favour  of  appropriating  Jor 
the  Britijh  treaty. -Rife  of  thtjeffion. -Summary 
of  events  till  the  end  of  the  year  17965  277 


PREFACE. 


IN  January  lafl,  I  published  The  American  Annua 
for  1796.   My  colle&ion  of  materials  required  more  room 
than  had  been  expe&ed,  and  it  was  found  neceflary  to  clofe  the 
volume  without  completing  the  plan. 

Some  gentlemen,  who  wifhed  to  fee  the  publication  proceed, 
offered  to  aflift  by  fubfcriptions  for  a  fecond  volume.  But 
this  was  unfuitable,  becaufe  perfons  who  bad  not  feen  the  for- 
mer one  could  not  with  propriety  be  afked  to  fubfcribe  for  a 
continuation  of  it.  I  therefore  began  the  fame  tafk  over  again 
under  a  different  title  page.  The  fubje£  was  fertile,  ami  repe- 
titions of  what  had  been  faid  already  have  been  avoided  with  fo 
much  care  that  they  do  not,  in  whole,  extend  to  near  half  a  page. 

On  the  appearance  of  the  former  volume,  certain  critics 
complained  of  my  ftile.  The  roughnefs  of  their  own,  in  the 
jnftant  of  condemnation,  afforded  the  beft  apology  for  the  faults 
of  mine.  But  moreover  thefe  refined  literati  were  the  patrons 
and  prompters  of  William  Cobbet.  He  had  fpoke  of  me, 
•with  his  wonted  pclitenefs,  in  ten  or  twelve  pamphlets.  It 
was  proper,  as  h  feems,  that  I  fhould  be  filent,  becaufe  the 
two  chaplains  of  Cortgrefs,  the  fecretaries  of  ftate  and  of  the 
treafury  were  in  the  number  of  his  auxiliaries  or  admirers.  I 
would  not  injure  Mr.  Cobbet  by  comparing  him  with  his  em- 
ployers. The  bench  and  jury  who  affafiinated  lord  Stafford 
were  ftill  more  execrable  than  Titus  Gates. 

In  this  catalogue  of  the  patrons  of  genius  we  find  Mr.  Ro- 
bert Lifton.  The  Britifh  ambaffador,  not  contented  with 
paying  Mr.  Gobbet  for  his  labours,  receives  a  daily  bundle  of 
his  gazettes.  No  perfon  poffefling  the  feelings  of  a  gentle- 
man would  fuffer  that  commodity  to  come  within  his  door. 
Such  intermeddling  from  a  foreign  envoy  would  not  be  endured 
by  any  independent  country  in  the  world,  unlefs  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  A  French  envoy  at  London,  or  an  Englifh 
at  Parif  3  ^jyer  fet$  up  a  jw  fpapsr  to 


his  meafures.  Neither  the  old  monarchy  nor  the  prefent  republic 
of  France,  would,  for  a  fmgle  day,  have  endured  fuch  a  connec- 
tion. In  London,  where  the  fpirit  of  national  independence  is 
underftood  and  felt,  the  iirft  news  of  the  Morning  Chronicle 
being  fupported  by  a  French  penfion,  would  level  the  prin- 
ter's office  with  the  pavement.  But  Mr.  Lifton  goes  farther. 
He  correfponds  with  internal  traitors.  He  is  detected,  and  the 
moft  defpicable,  or  rather  the  moft  proftituted  of  all  cabinets, 
hath  accepted  of  his  refufal  to  reveal  their  names.  To  trace 
the  confpiracy,  Congrcfs  appoints  a  committee  of  five  mem- 
b.  r:.  Of  thefe,  three  are  tories,  and  one  of  them  is  Robert 
Goouloe  Harper,  the  intimate  friend  of  I  ifton,  the  advifcr  of  a 
Spanifh  war,  and  of  the  conqueft  of  Mexico.  This  is  a  new 
way  to  difcover  plots. 

When  the  fifth  number  of  this  book  was  published,  Mr. 
Alexander  Hamilton  printed,  in  Mr.  Fenno's  gazette,  a  deni- 
al of  his- connexion  with  Reynolds.  He  has  now  come  from 
New- York  to  complete  a  fatisfa&ory  ftatement<  Like  the 
pot  whitewafhing  the  kettle,  he  has  already  received  from  Mr. 
Wolcot  a  certificate  of  his  virtue.  He  is, -at  prefent,  alfofolici- 
tinc-  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Muhlenberg,  on  both  of  whom  he 
hadMieaped  mountains  of  calumny,  Mr.  Hamilton  entreats 
them,  to  atteft  his  innocence,  that  is  to  fay,  their  belief  of  his 
having  debauched  Mrs.  Reynolds. 

The  variety  of  articles  tranfmitted  for  revival  and  publication 
was  unexpected,  and  many  have  been  delayed  for  want  of 
room.  The  denial  of  accefs  to  fubfcribers  appeared  an  ungra- 
cious talk.  A  compliance  with  their  wifhes  made  it  nece/Ta- 
ry  to  fliorten  the  latter  part  of  the  narrative,  and  to  leave  out 
fome  entire  chapters  that  were  prepared  for  the  prefs.  This  gives 
to  the  volume  a  mifcellaneous  texture,  which  the  rigid  remark- 
er  is  entitled  to  condemn.  At  another  time,  I  fhajl  perhaps 
do  better. 

A  report  has  been  circulated,  that  Mr.  John  Beckley  is  the 
author  of  this  volume.  He  did  not  frame  a  fmgle  fentpnceof 
it.  He  is  unacquainted  with  my  hand  writing,  and  I  could  not 
be  fure  to  diitinguifh  his. 

Philadelphia,  July  19^,  1797. 


Hiftory  of  the  United  States,  &c 


CHAPTER  I. 

'Fir ft  feffion  of  the  fourth  Congrefs .^-Refoluiion  pro- 
pojed  by    Mr.   S.  Smith  for   checking  the  Briti/Ji 
treaty. — Hints  refpefting  that  paper. — >  Attempts 
to  involve  America  in  a  French  ivar. — Sketch  of 
the  flat*  of  France,  by  Edmund  Burke. — Cor^rcifl 
between  k?r  and  the  U:i;.':-d  States. — 5V.iv 
.  of  the  Federal  army. — Fat^l 
'with  France. — -Carmllus . — His  //.•' 
ft  ate  of  Europe. — Mr.  Pin  ',    ,•. —  'tis      '•:'.       of 
the  advantage  of  delaying  a  Brit:- 
tempts  to  irritate    France. —Extreme  danger  of 
doing  fo. — Real  authors  of  the  mijunderftandinv. — 
Montgaittard's  prediction. — Notice  to  the  patrons 
of  a  certain  gazette. — Concluding  remarks. 


IT  the  beginning  of  the  year  1796,  the  fourth 

Congrefs  of  the  United  States  were  in  t 
firil  fcflion.     On  the  4th  of  January,  Mr. 'Samuel 
Smith  laid  on  the  table   of  the  Rcprefcntatives  a 
rcfolution  in  thefe  words:  "That  from  and  after 
"  the  clay    of  it  (hall  not   be    lawful 

"for  any  foreign  (hip  or  vcflel  "to -'land  in  the 
c  territories  of  the  United  States  any  goods,  wares, 
"or  merchandize  other  than  the  produce  of  that 
"  country  to  which  the/flip  or  veffel  belongs."  This 
propofal  was  profcflfedly  pointed  at  the  treaty  of 


HISTORY  OF    THE 

commerce  with  Britain,  which  had  beenfigned  at 
London  on  the  I9th  of  November,  1794,  by 
Mr.  John  Jay,  as  envoy  on  the  part  of  Ame- 
rica. Mr.  S.  Smith  oppoied  that  infrrument.  He 
fa  id  in  Congrefs,  that,  within  two  years,  it  might 
be  expelled  to  deflroy  thefhipping  of  this  country. 
The  fifteenth  article  of  the  treaty  has  thefe  words  : 

*  Nor  fhall  any  prohibition  be  impofed  on  the  ex- 
"  portation  or  the  importation  of  any  articles  to 

c  or  from  the  territories  of  the  two  parties  refpec- 
:c  tively,  \vhich  fhall  not  equally  extend  to  all  other 
u  nations."     Thus  the  refolution  was  in  ftrict  har- 
mony wi:h  the  conditions  of  the  treaty;  yet,  if  the 
:d  States  fliall  ever  carry  it  into  execution,  the 
treaty   itfeif  will,  in  fome  meafure,  be   at  an  end. 
Britain  could  find  a  thousand  effective  ways  of  ex- 
preffing  her  difgufi:  at  this  regulation,  which  would 
incommode  her  much  more  than  the  other  mari- 
time flates  of  Europe.     Still  fbe  would  have  lefs 
r  \-vJ.b  n   to  complain   than  any  nation  in  the  world, 
becaufe  tlie  refolution    is  grounded  on  the  princi- 
ple afTumedin  the  Englifh  acl:  of  navigation*. 
The  treaty  in  quefrion  has  produced  many  vo- 
5  of  elaborate  invefligation.     Since  the  new 
comlitution,  no  other  fubjcft  has  excited  fo  gene- 
ral an  effort  of  the  ingenuity,  the  eloquence,  and 

*  On  the  id  of  September,  1793*  the  French  Convention 
jyjfl'ed  a  fionlar  a&.  Its  operation  is  only  fufpended  on  account  of 
the  v.-a-.  By  the  ruft  article,  no  foreign  commodities  can  be  im- 
ported into  France,  but  in  French  veffels,  or  in  thofe  of  the  country 
which  produces  them,  or  of  the  country  from  which  they  areufu- 
ally  rirfi  exported.  By  the  fecond,  no  foreign  veflel  can  convey  from 
one  port  of  France  or  her  colonies  to  another,  any  of  their  produce. 
Third,  every  French  veiiel  mud  have  her  officers  and  three-fourths 
of  her  crew  Frenchmen.  It  is  amazing  that  the  court  of  Verfaillet 
did  not  adopt  this  rule  an  hundred  years  ago.  If  will,  in  a  fnort 
double  or  quadruple  the  number  of  French  feamen.  Were 
othei  omens  averted,  this  law  is  an  epitaph  on  the  naval  fupremacjr 
oi;  Britain.  See  an  eloquent  report  by  m 


UNITED    STATES.  3 

the  paffions  of  America.  It  was  this  emergency 
which  marked  out  the  prefent  year  as  more  emi- 
nently deferring  of  historical  notice.  The  mat- 
ter itfelf  daily  grows  in  importance,  as  this  tranfac- 
tion  has  brought  the  United  States  to  the  verge 
of  a  French  war.  Few  have  leifure  to  read,  and 
{till  fewer  have  information  or  even  capacity  ade- 
quate to  comprehend  a  great  part  t>f  the  complica- 
ted arguments  employed  for  or  againft  it.  To  at- 
tempt a  detail  of  the  topics  on  each  fide  would 
be  a  voluminous,  and  by  this  time,  almofc  an  ufe- 
lefs  undertaking.  The  public  has  already  become 
fatiated  witheiTays,  letters,  memorials,  replies,  ob- 
fervations,  features,  reports,  addrefTes,  views,  vin- 
dications, defences,  paragraphs,  refblutions,  peti- 
tions, explanations,  proceedings  of  town  meetings, 
motions,  and  fpeeches.  Within  the  fhort  ipace  of 
eighteen  months,  the  argument  has  entirely  (bitted 
its  place.  The  ftrefs  of  the  debate  can  be  no  longer 
about  whether  the  Britifh  treaty  is  advantageous 
or  prejudicial  to  American  commerce  ;  but  whether 
it  is  worth  preferring  at  the  rifle  of  a  French  war. 
That  the  Directory  of  Paris  have  this  object  fome- 
what  in  their  eye  is  moft  likely.  The  recall  of 
their  ambafTador,  citizen  Adct,  was  a  broad  inti- 
mation of  their  deflgn.  In  Europe,  fuch  a  (rep  is 
the  profefTedfignalforhofHlities.  It  is  ascertain 
that  a  party  in  this  country  are  folicitous  of  driving 
the  United  States  into  that  contefl.  If  a  croud  of 
other  evidences  could  be  forgotten,  their  abfencc 
is  fupplied  by  the  letter  from  fecretary  Pickering 
to  Mr.  Pinckney  our  amb^ffador  to  the  French  re- 
public. At  the  fame  time,  attempts  are  conftantly 
made  to  decry  the  power  of  France.  When  a 
French  general  chances  to  retreat,  the  newipapers 
of  the  party  teem  with  exultation.  The  republic  at 
Urge  is  invariably  reprcfented  as  a  rendezvous  of 


4  HISTORY  OF  THE 

ruffians,  a  nuiiunce  to   civilized  fociaty.     It  is  im* 

politic  that  ths  French  fliouid  fail   or  being  offen- 

ded at  fuch  unprovoked  hiiolence.     They  hire  no 

in  Paris  to  revile  America.     .They  do  not 

ries  in  cenfuring  our  political   characters. 

"Vet  our  federal  prints  attack,  on    every  occafion, 

borli  the  republic   and  all  her  friends,  in  the  moifc 

vnl^ar  uyle  ofabufe.     Even  the  inhiifcerial  joints 

;n,  the  organs  of  llofe  and  Dundas,  are, 

by  many  degrees,   leis  infolent  in  their  inveciive, 

and  ieis  brutal  in  their  reproach*. 

;bre  going  farther,  we  (liall  glance  at  the  cha- 
racter and  actual  date  of  the  French,  whom  Mr. 
Pickering  and  his  friends  arefo  anxious  to  degrade. 
In  preparing  for  a  quarrel  it  is  euential  to  be  ac- 

itecl  with  the  talents  and  re&urces  of  your  an- 
.     The  iituation  of  our  citizens,  thinly  dif- 

:J  over  an  immenie  continent,  affords  a  pecu- 
Itaf  avenue  to  deception.  It  has  been  employed 
with  diligence  againii:  the  republic.  On  a  topic 

*  For  hfhnce,  a  late  correfpondcnt  in  the  Gazette  of  the  United 

us:  "That  contemptible    mJ  drunken   vagabond 

f(  TOM  FAINS,  who  13  notorio  uc  of  every  honeft    rinci- 


.:,    as  cro  career  of  impu- 

.    avaricious  poverty 

';:,  \vi?n!tl  let  the  world  o-i  lire,   if  he  could 
-K%e  by  the  %ht,  and  adrocate  the  climate  and  govern- 
.t  crhell  to  be  popularthere,  —  He  was,  at  the  commencement 
"  of  our  troubles,  a    decided  friend  to  the  mcafures  of  Great  Bri- 
'^'tain/'     After  the  war,  "  his  Srft  attack  was  upon  the  traxtjniliij  of 
'"'  Great  Britain  :  but  here  he  u-as  difgracefully  defearcd."  [It  Will 
be  time  enough  to  fprak  of  hisaV/r///  when  the  bank  of  England  be- 
gins to  nay  its  notes  in  yoU  and  diver.     The  prefrnt  paper-money 
plan  is  like  trying  to  Cfofs  :\  cork  jacket.]  "  I  regret 

e  was  found  any  man  in  the  United  States  fo  bafe  and  holiiie 
«'  to  the  peace  and  honour  of  his  country,  as  to  publiiluhis  le  tt«rr  of 
"  iftfamy  ;"  the  i--r;cr  from   Paine  to  general  Wafliington,   prinred 
•ce  of  the  country  runs  nohai.ard,   and  as 

little  a'.vairs  the  honour  of  the  general.  On  the  j^.th  of  December,  . 
17  ;6,  Dr.  Aires  obferved  ';.  Gongrels,  *hat  "  the  charaiiet  is  fixed 
14  in  hifivrj  /"  Paine>  therefore,  has  come  too  late. 


UNITED  STATES  5* 

ef  fnch    nniverfal  importance   candid  explanation 
can  hardly  be  tedious.     No  better  authority  will 
be    required  than  that  of  Edmund  Burke.     Two 
letters  from  him   on  this  head  have  been   recently 
printed.  A  few  detached  fentences,  extracted  from 
whole  (beets   to  the  lame  purpoie,  will  place  the 
refources  of  France  in  a  jull  light,    and  Ihew  what 
the  United  States  have  to  expert  in  a  cor.ted  with 
her.      "  Out  of  the  tomb  of  the  murdered  monar- 
cc  chy   in  France,  Ir.is  ariien   a  vaft,  tremendous, 
41  un  formed  fpeclre,  in  afar  moreterrijic  guije  than 
tc  any  which  ever     yet   overpowered  the   hrsagi- 
"  nation  and  fubdued  the  fortitude  of  man. — The 
u  republic  has  actually  conquered  the  fined  parts  of 
cc  Europe,  has  diltrefied,.  diibnited,  deranged,  and 
cc  broke  to  pieces  all  the  reft. — We  have  not  in  the 
cc  (lighted  degree,  impaired  thedrengthcf  the  com- 
u  mon  enemy,  (France),  in  any  one  of  thofe  points 
"  in  which  his  particular  force  confids. — The  rc- 
u  gicide  has  received  our  advances  with  fcorn*'-— » 
tc  If  things   fliould  give  us    ths  comparative  happi- 
cc  nefs  of  ajiriiggle,  I  fhall  be  found  dying  by  the 
cc  fide  of  Mr.    Pitt. — Spain  is  a  province  of  the  ja- 
a  cobin  empire. — 'Her  crown  is  a  fief  of  regicide. — 
4C  We  have  not  conildered,  as  we  ought,  the  dread- 
a  ful  energy    of  a  date  in  which  the  property  has 
cc  nothing  to  do  with  the  government. — The  difco- 
a  very  is  dreadful,  the  mine  exhaujllejs . — Arepub- 
cc  lie  of  a  character  the  mod  rcfilefs,  the  mod  en- 
<c  terprifing,  the  mod  impious,  the  mod  fierce  and 
<c  bloody,   the  mod  hypocritical   and  perfidious, 
<c  the  mod  bold  and  daring  that  has  ever  been  feen, 
u  or  indeed  that  can  be  conceived  to  exid  1" 

Mr.  Burke  is  far  from  being  fingular  in  his  pa- 
Bic.     Major  Cartwright,  in  his  work,  entitled,  The 

The  letters  were  pablifhcd  before  Malmeftury  went  to 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Commonwealth  in  Danger^  {hews  the  folly  of  Eng. 
land  depending  for  fafety,  fckly  on  her£eet.  The 
French  may  give  battle  by  fea,  be  defeated,  and 
lofe  twenty  (hips  of  the  line,  without  material  in- 
jury.     They  know  that  the  Englifh  muft  be  crip- 
pled and  return  to  port.     The  road  is  then   open, 
and  they  difembark  in  Britain  what   troops   they 
pleafe.     The  major  adds,  that,  previous  to  the  vic- 
tory of  the  ift   of  June,  1794,   admiral  Howe  was 
reviled  for  not  beating  the  French  fleet ;  but  even 
then,  he  only  did  fo  becauie  the  French  came  pur- 
pofely  in  his  way.     They  alfo,  by  facrificing  a  few 
fliips  of  the  line,    gained  their  object.     This  was 
to  fecurc  the  arrival  of  an  American  convoy  with 
provilions.     Arthur  Young,  a  third  writer  of  emi- 
nence, has    demonilrated  the  depth  of  his  defpair 
by    the    following  propofal ;  viz.    that    England 
fhould  railc  an  army  of  five  hundred  thoufand  men  ; 
and  that  they,  as  well  as  their  officers,  muft  ail  be 
men  of  property.  He  fays  that  nothing  elfe  canfave 
the  country   from  a  French   conqueft.     This  was 
above   two    years  ago*.     Thefe  authorities  con- 
firm  the  lamentations  of  Mr.   Burke.     As  to  his 
picture  of  what  France  can  perform,  w*e  may  judge 
by  what  (he  hath  fuffered.     In  March,   1795,  ®u~ 
mourier  printed  at  Hamburgh,   a  very  incerefting 
pamphlet  on  the  ftate  of  the  war.     He  therein  fays, 
that,  in  December,  1794,  a  report  was  laid  before 
the  Convention  of  the  number  of  foldiers  whom 
France  had  loft  by  her   three  campaigns.     They 
were  ftated  at  fix  hundredand  fifty  thoufand.     Du- 
mourier  adds,  that  this  computation  was  by  one- 
third  part  lefs  than    the  truth;  and  that,  including 
emigration,    famine,  and  the  fcaifold,  France  had 

'  See  An  Idea  of  the  prefent  State  of  France,  printed  fojuetiint 
previous  to  March,  179^. 


UNITED  STATES  7 

then  loft  twelve  hundred  thonfand  men,  in  the  flow- 
er of  life,  beildes  aged  perfons,  women  and  chil- 
dren. Compared  with  this  havoc  of  the  human 
fpecies,  the  vvafte  of  any  other  modern  war  is  but 
trifling.  The  king  of  Pruflia  cftimates  that  the  war 
of  1756,  which  kfled^even  years,  defiroyed,  in  the 
whole,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  only  about  a 
million  of  foldiers.  To  the  twelve  hundred  thcufand 
Frenchmen  we  may  fafely  add  eight  hundred thou- 
fand  from  the  allied  armies;  fince  the  latter  were 
equally  numerous  with  the  republicans,  and  befldes 
were  beaten.  We  have  thus  about  two  millions  of 
deaths,  in  two  years  and  four  months,  or  above  eight 
hundred  thoufand  per  annum  ;  fo  that  the  prefent 
war  is  at  leaft  five  times  more  deflru&ive  than  that 
of  1756. 

No  other  nation  or  government  that  the  world 
ever  faw,  could  have  fupportedfuch  enormous  lofTes 
as  the  French  have  endured  ;  yet  their  ftrength 
appears  undiminiflied,  and  every  campaign  adds  to 
the  catalogue  of  their  conquefls.  It  is  not  lefs 
than  madnefs  for  a  party  in  America  to  be  hiring 
newfpapers  to  revile  fuch  a  terrible  people.  They 
are  not  only  moll  formidable  from  their  phyfical 
ftrength,  but  from  the  peculiar  ftrufture  of  their 
government.  "  It  is  fyflernatic  ;"  fays  Mr.  Burke, 
c  itisfimpleto  its  principle;  it  has  unity  and  con- 
"  fiftcncy  in  perfection."  [Congrefs  have  refufed 
to  impofe  a  land  tax.  Nay  fome  of  them,  with 
furprifinghardinefs,  declare  fuch  a  meafure  imprac- 
ticable, though  land  taxes  are  at  this  moment  paid 
in  perhaps  every  (late  of  the  union.  Pennfylvania 
has  three  or  four.  Oppofed  to  this  frivolity,  this 
puppet-fhew  oflegiflation,  obferve  what  Burke  tells 
of  France :]  "  In  that  country,  entirely  to  cut  off  a 
c  branch  of  commerce,  to  extinguifh  a  manufac- 
4  ture,  to  deftroy  the  circulation  of  money,  to 


8  >  HISTORY  OF  THE 

"  violate  credit,  to  fufpend  the  courfe  of  agricul- 
<c  tur--,  even  to  burn  a  city  or  to  :  .;e  a  pro- 

l<  vir  ,  d'jesnot  c'v  ,  a  iiioment's 

c  anxiety. — Going  Rraight  forward  to  its  end,  un- 
c  appalled   by  peril,  un<  '.  by  remorfe,  defpi- 

4  fingall  common  maxims  and  all  common  means, 


*  that  liid^o-is    phantom  overpowered  thoie  i-jho 
c  c  could  n  ot  I  --/•  ?ve  I  '  I  at  all  exifr  !" 

This  is  tht!  fort  of  enemy  \vhom  we  may  chance 
to  encounter,  as  the  price  of  the  Britifh  treaty, 
and  the  epiftle  of  ickering;.  When  in  parlia- 

inent,  Mr.  Burke  was  coniidered  as  the  belt  in- 
formed mennber  or  .!ife  of  Commons.  He 
has  long  been  tiic  oracle  of  EisplifU  ariilocracy. 
He  is  a  '  er  to  Pitt,  and  v^ould  be  forry  to 
overcharge  the  pifture  i  •.  er. 

It  is  iervhi^  America,  to  r  >crt  compari&n 

between  the  relative  force  of  the  two  nador.s. 
The  French,  in  only  four  years,  have-  overcome 
the  German  empire,  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  and 
the  Netherlands,  comprehending  not  lefs  than  fifty 
millions  of  people.  The  United. States,  white,  black 
andyellow,  have  not  five  millions.  The  French  have 
drubbed  three  Britifh  kingdoms,  with  their  popula- 
tion of  fourteen  millions,  and  crulhed  numerous  con- 
{piracies  and  rebellions  in  the  heart  of  their  country. 
The  revolt  of  La  Vendee  alone  coir  as  much  fight- 
ing as  pa{Ted  in  America  during  the  revolution. 
Pichegru,  in  one  cajnpaign,  did  what  Marlborough, 
though  constantly  victorious,  could  not  accomplish 
in  ten.  . 

In  1794,  France  maintained  nearly  eleven  hun- 
dred thouland  fighting  men,  and  was,  in  1795,  to 
have  fixty  thoufand  cannoneers*.  In  1797,  Ame- 
rica, by  the  report  of  Oliver  Wolcott,  was  to 

*  Carry's  edition  of  Guthrie's  Geography,  vol.  ;i.  p.  699.  IP.  18. 


UNITED    STATES,  9 

require  an  army  of  three  thoufand  five  hundred 
and  twenty-four  men,  including  officers,  cadets,  ar- 
tificers, and  twenty-feven  furgeons.  Even  this 
handful  coil  infinite  haggling  in  Congrefs*  ;  and 
the  greateft  anxiety  how  they  were  to  be  paid. 
The  French  are  the  befl  appointed  troops,  perhaps, 
in  the  world.  From  an  immenfe  diftance,  they 
have  been  often  transported  in  waggons  to  the  field 
of  battle.  The  pay  of  American  regulars  is  abfo- 
lute  beggary.  The  privates  have  a  ration  per  day 
worth  twenty  cents,  or  feventy  two  dollars  and  eigh- 
ty cents  a  year.  Their  pay  is  four  dollars  per  month,, 
or  forty-eight  dollars  a  year.  An  annual  fuit  of 
clothes  are  valued  at  twenty-five  dollars,  fo  that 
the  accounts  flands  thhs  ; 

Dolls.     Cts. 

Rations,  -       72      80 

Pay,  .  -    48 

Ciothes,  25 

Total^         145     80 

Every  man  who  can  handle  an  axe  may  gain  dou- 
ble the  fum,  and  have  his  victuals  into  the  bargain.. 
For  fuch  a  pittance  our  foldiers,  in  war,  penetrate 
the  wildernefs  to  fight  an  enemy  who  give  no  quar- 
ter. In  peace  they  are  cooped  up  in  garrifbns 
from  whence  they  dare  not  ilray  above  a  gun  fhot^ 
and  where  they  have  been  often  in  the  utmoft  di£- 
trefs  for  necefTaries.  Thoufands  of  horfes,  in  at- 
tempting to  carry  fupplies  through  the  defart,  have 
confumed  their  loads,  and  died  of  hungert.  Ge- 
neral Wayne,  it  is  faid,  lofl  his  life  at  lake  Erie, 
for  want  of  two  ounces  of  caftor  oil. 

Such  is  the  prefent  balance  by  land  between  the 

The  particulars  will  appear  in  the  next  volume, 
i  Mr,  S,  Smith  ftated  this,  laft  winter,  in  Congrefs* 


jo  HISTORY    OF    THE 

i 

regular  forces  of  France  and  the  United  States, 
They  are  as  one  man  to  three  or  four  hundred.  Our 
expences  equal  or  exceed  our  revenues.  Congrefs 
have  refuied  to  attempt  a  land  tax.  All  other 
fources  are  about  exhaufted;  and  a  war  with  France, 
by  the  ruin  of  our  commerce,  would  certainly  cut 
off  a  great  part  of  thofe  arifmg  from  it.  Nine  parts 
In  ten  of  the  public  taxes  proceed  from  the  duties 
on  import  and  tonnage.  In  the  land  tax  debates  of 
Congrefs,  laft  winter,  Mr.  Harper  flrangely  faid, 
that,  if  at  war  with  France,  our  trade  would  not, 
In  his  opinion,  fuffer  more  than  it  docs  already. 
He  inferred  that  our  revenues  would  not,  by  that 
event,  be  materially  reduced. 

If  we  look  at  the  fea  there"  is  no  profpeet  of  fuo 
cefs  in  a  conteft  with  France.  We  have  on  the 
ilocks  three  frigates.  Of  their  navy  an  exact  ac- 
count cannot  here  be  given,  but  it  has,  for  a  centu- 
ry, been  the  fecond  in  Europe.  It  lately  was  laid 
to  contain  three  hundred  and  thirty-feven  velfels. 
An  hundred  and  twenty  one  were  (hips  of  the  line. 
Of  thefe  the  lead  carry  feventy  four  guns*.  They 
would,  in  a  conteft  with  America,  be  feconded  by 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  Holland.  Againft  this  inimen- 
41  ty  of  numbers,  our  Lilliput  fquadron  would  be 
like  three  pifmires  in  the  gullet  of  a  crocodile,  or 
three  grains  of  chaff 'in  the  charge  of  a  fix  pounder. 
But  then  our  privateers  can  deftroy  their  com- 
merce! Yes.  And  they  (hall  deftroy  ours.  Thus,  as 
Henry  Fielding  fays, we  fell  a  blind  horfe  and  receive 
a  bad  note  in  payment.  Our  feaport  towns,  from 
Portland  to  Savannah,  will  be  iuccefllvely  trans- 
formed into  a  range  of  bonfires.  The  fhutting  tip 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  weflern  waters  would 
compofe  but  an  atom  in  the  Alps  of  our  calamity. 

*  Carey's  edition  of  Outline's  Geography;  vol.  ii.  p.  696. 


UNITED    STATES.  it 

In  a  ibrnggle  with  France  alone,  unfupported  by 
her  allies.,  we  could  not  mufter  a  tenth  part  of  her 
force  either  by  land  or  fea.  Mr.  Pitt  computed,  in 
the  Houfe  of  Commons,  that  the  campaign  of  1794, 
coft  the  republic  an  hundred  and  fifty  millions  Her- 
ling.  Ours  with  the  Wyandots  were  eftimated  at  a 
million  of  dollars  yearly.  The  burden  produced  infi- 
nite difcontent,  and  an  earned  defire  of  peace.  France, 
at  an  annual  charge  three  or  fix  hundred  times  grea- 
ter, continues  to  fight  and  to  conquer,  to  trample 
every  enemy,  and  to  dictate  the  terms  of  every 
peace.  To  contend,  if  we  can  help  it,  with  this  re- 
publican Typhoeus  would,  in  rafhnefs,  referable  the 
laft  druggies  of  jerufalem  and  Palmira.  On  the 
altars  of  Titus  and  Aurelian  we  might  read  with 
probability  the  profpe£i  before  us. 

As  a  political  writer,  Alexander  Hamilton  holds 
the  fame  rank  in  America  that  Burke  enjoys  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  it  would  be  injuring  the  logic  of  his 
party  not  to  give  his  opinion.  Camillus,  No.  vii. 
was  publifhed  in  the  fummer  of  1 795-,  and  contains  a 
furvey  of  Europe  extremely  different  from  that  of 
Mr.  Burke.  "  It  cannot  be  denied  that  flie  (Britain) 
,cc  is  triumphant  on  the  ocean  ;  that  the  acqirifitions 
cc  which  me  has  made  upon  France  are  hitherto 
cc  greater  than  thofe  which  France  has  made  upon 
"  her."  The  reduction  of  two  or  three  iflands  in 
the  Weft  Indies  is  not  worth  notice  in  this  contefl, 
•where  the  independence  of  Britain  is  in  imminent 
clanger.  When  No.  vii.  was  written,  the  French  had 
conquered  Holland,  and  the  Auftrian  Netherlands. 

c  Holland,"  fays  Mr.  Burke,  "  is  to  England  a 
u  matter  of  value  ineftimable  .*"  By  the  conquer! 
of  the  low  countries,  France  forms  a  femicircle 

nround  the  Britifh  iflands.     Hence,    \vhilq  the  fleet 

*  Letter  I. 


i2  HISTORY    OF   THE 

of  England  lies  wind-bound  at  Spithead,  or  is  in 
any  other  given  fituation,  the  French,  by  taking 
an  oppofite  point  of  the  compafs,  can,  at  their 
leifure,  difembark  an  army  on  the  coaft  of  Britain 
or  Ireland.  For  excluding  them,  an  hundred  fhips 
of  the  line  and  an  hundred  canoes  would  be  of 
equal  importance.  This,  by  the  way,  points  out 
the  folly  of  a  favourite  Britiih  maxim,  that  he  ivho 
7s  mafter  by  jea  is  mafter  by  land.  While  the  Ne- 
therlands, therefore,  continue  a  part  of  the  repub- 
lic, it  is  frivolous  to  fpeak  of  Britifti  conquefts  in 
the  Eaft  or  Weft  Indies,  or  indeed  any  where  elfe. 
They  flgnify  no  more 

"  Than  Caefar's  arm,  when  Csefar's  head  is  off." 

c  If,  on  the  one  hand,  (he  (Britain)  owes  an  im- 
c  menfe  debt,  on  the  other  fhe  pofTefTes  an  immenfe 
c  credit,  which  there  is  no  fymptom  of  being  im- 
c  paired.     Britifli  credit  has  become,   in  a  Britiili 
c  mind,  an  article  offaM,  and  is  no  longer  an  ob- 
"  jedl  of  reafon."  [Thus  Camillus  tells  us  that  the 
creditors   of  England  are  fools.     The  profpefts  of 
a  merchant  are  not  very  hopeful,  when  no  man  of 
prudence  will   truft  him.     Yet    fuch  is  the  condi- 
tion of  England  as  defcribed  by  its  advocate.]  "  Her 
c  government  poflefTes,  internally,  as  much  vigor, 
c  and  has  as  much  national  fupport,    as  it  perhaps 
c  ever  had  at  any    former  period   of  her  hiftory. 
''  Alarmed  by  the  unfortunate  excefTes  in  France, 
c  moft  men  of  property   cling  to  the  government, 
"c  and  carry  with  them  the  great  bulk  of  the  nation, 
c  aimed  the  whole    of  the  farming  inter  eft,  and 
'  much  the  great  eft  proportion  of  other  induftri- 
cc  ous  clafles." 
Mr,  Burke  has  the  ad  vantage  of  being  on  thcfpot; 


UNITED  STATES.  13 

and  he  diflents  entirely  from  Mr.  Hamilton.  He 
eflhnates  the  number  of  Britifh  citizens  who  think 
for  themfeives,  at  four  hundred  thoufand.  Of 
thefe  he  computes  that  eighty  thoufand  are  "  pure 
"  jacobins,  utterly  incapable  of  amendment.  — 
cc  On  thefe,  no  reafon,  no  argument,  no  example, 
£C  no  venerable  authority,  can  have  the  flighted!  in- 
"  fluence.  They  defire  a  change,  and  they  will  have 
"  it  if  they  can.  —  This  minority  is  great  and  formi- 
cc  dable.  I  do  not  know  whether,  if  I  aimed  at  the  to- 
a  tal  overthrow  of  a  kingdom,  I  (houldiuifli  to  be  en- 
ic  cumbered  'with  a  larger  body  of  parti/ans*  ."  The 
London  Courier,  of  the  26th  of  December,  I79<S 
affirms,  that  thefe  two  letters  were  publifhed  by  the 
connivance  of  the  minifter.  Burke  has  penfions  to 
the  effeftive  amount  of  about  four  thoufand  pounds 
fterling,  fo  that  this  fuppofition  be  conies  highly  pro- 
bable. Thus  the  authority  of  Pitt  is  fuperadded  to 
that  of  Burke,  and  they  explode  the  opinion  of  Ca- 
millus.  Each  fucceeding  campaign  is  an  additional 
nail  driven  into  the  head  of  monarchy.  Every  new- 
tax  makes  a  number  of  new  enemies.  Here  we  per- 
ceive three  diftinft  caufes  for  a  Britifh  revolution. 
Thefe  are,  a  fuperior  and  implacable  enemy  on 
the  continent,  whofe  local  pofltion  makes  a  Bri- 
tifli  navy  ufelefs  ;  a  national  debt,  which  by  this 
time  approaches  to  four  hundred  millions  fterling., 
and  of  which  the  very  intereft  can  be  paid  only  in 
paper;  and  a  party  within  the  country  whofe  enmity 
cannot  be  extinguifhed,  and  who,  by  the  confeflion 
of  their  enemies,  ave  abundantly  numerous  for  the 
deftruclion  of  any  government  in  the  world. 
u  Among  her  allies/'  fays  Camillus,  £:  are  the  two 

great  eft  powers   of  Europe,  France  excepted  ; 

namely,  Ruflia  and  Auftria.    Spain  and  Sardinia 

*  Letter  I, 


c 


M  HISTORY    OF   THE 

c  make  a  common  caufe  with  her."    The  two  lat- 
ter have  been  turned  by  France  into  mere  fteppinn- 
ftones  in  her  path  to  the  dominion  of  Europe.  Ru£ 
ila  never  gave  any  help,  more  or  lefs,  to  the  crown- 
ed coalition.     Catharine  is  now  dead  ;  and  her  fon 
has  declined  any  concern  with  it.    But  even  if  he 
did.  fend    an  army    to  the  Rhine,    Britain  would 
be  obliged  to  pay  them.     As  for  Auftria,  Jafper 
Wilfon,  in  his  celebrated  letter  to  Mr.  Pitt,  fays, 
that,  before  the  prefent  war  began,  the  Emperor  was 
offering  nine  per  cent  for  money,  fo  that  by  this  time 
he  muft  be  as  much  entangled  in  debt  as  England 
herfelf.   Nothing  but  arbitrary  power  could  enable 
him  to  p#y  even  a  fmgle  regiment.  This  will  not  hold 
out  long,   "  She  (France)  cannot,  without  great  cli.f- 
'  ficulty,  from  their   geographical  pofition,  make 
"*  any  farther   acquititions  upon  the   territories  of 
'Auftria."  Carnot  is  a  better  geographer  than  Mr. 
Hamilton.  Since  this  prediction,  Moreau  and  Jour- 
dan  have   penetrated  into  the  heart  of  Germany. 
They  have  fubdaecl  a  multitude  of  its  princes,  and 
•  within  a  £11  all  matter  of  reaching  Vienna.     As 
to  Italy,   Buonaparte  has  eclipfed  every  commander 
ftnce  Telefilms  and  Sylla  engaged  under  the  walls 
of  Home.     Hear    what   Burke  fays  :   cc  The  over- 
'  running  of  Lombard;/,  the  fnbjugation    of  Pied- 
mont, the  poflefficn  of  its  impregnable  fortrefTes, 
the  feizing  on  all  the  neutral  ftates  of  Italy,  our 
expulfion    from  Leghorn,   inftances  renewed   for 
pur    expulfion  from  Genoa,  Spain  rendered  fub- 
jeft  to  them  and  hoftile  to  us,  Portugal  bent  un- 
:he  yoke,  half  the  empire  over-run  and  rava- 
;d'*."     This  is  the    pidlure   of  1796.     Yet,' in 
reliance  on  the  political  forefight  of  Camillus,   a  nu- 
ineroiis  party  in  the   United   States  have  filled,  and 

*  Letter  I. 


UNITED    STATES.  13 

continue  to  fill  their  newspapers  with  fcurrilous  ca- 
lumnies againft  the  French  nation.  Theyinfulted  her 
ambaffador,  even  after  he  had  been  recalled  5  and, 
as  if  this  had  not  been  enough  to  enfure  a  rupture^ 
Mr.  Pickering  lent  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pinckney  in  France 
which  is  more  in  the  tone  of  a  libel  than  a  diploma- 
tic paper.  When  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  we  know 
thefequel.  With  regard  to  Europe,  Mr.  Hamilton 
is,  in  all  his  views,  miftaken.  This  lamp  of  politi- 
cal wifdom,  has  conducted  America  to  the  edge 
of  a  precipice  from  which  General  Wafhington 
lav/  fit  to  retire.  It  is  of  confequence  to  expofe  the 
fbphiftry  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  that  our  enlightened 
citizens  may  fee  by  what  ignorance  they  have  been 
led  into  the  prefent  crifis.  We  fhall,  on  this  account, 
pick  up  two  or  three  others  of  his  miftakes. 

u  Britain  and  her  poffeffions  are  efjentially  Jafe" 
fays  Gamillus,  '"  while  me  maintains  a  decided 
"  maritime  luperiority."  Burke,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  {peaking  of  the  war  of  1689,  fays,  that  u  in 
ic  two  years  three  thoufand  vefTels  v/ere  taken  from 
*c  the  Engiifh  trade."  In  every  war,  the  com- 
merce of  Britain  fuffers  procligiqufly.  The  prefent 
fcate  of  the  Weft  Indies  ihews  that  a  fuperior  fleet 
cannot  always  preferve  her  iilands.  Witnefs  the 
recapture  of  Guadaloupe,  the  conflagration  of  St. 
Vincents,  Grenada,  and  St.  Lucia  !  But  the  expedi- 
tion of  Hoche,  to  Ireland,  is  the  bed  refutation  of 
Mr,  Hamilton.  Some  people  fpeak  of  the  Britifh 
navy  as  if  it  could  be  prefent  every  where  at  the 
fame  time.  If  twenty-five  thoufand  Frenchmen  had 
difembarked  at  Bantry  bay,  a  march  of  two  days 
would  have  brought  them  to  Corks,  a  city  as  large  as 
Philadelphia,  *difaffected  to  government,  and  befides 
entirely  defencelefs.  Another  week  would  be  fuf- 
ficient  for  reaching  Dublin.  The  temper,  of  its 
citizens  appears  by  a  letter  from  the  viceroy. 


i*  HISTORY    OF  THE 

Heboafh  of  having  a  militia  of  two  thoufand  bar- 
riflers,  attornies,  merchants,  andfuch  people.  But 
thefe  men  would  not  mount  guard,  if  they  duril  em- 
ploy the  poorer  claffes  to  do  fo  for  them.  Dublin 
has  between  two  and  three  hundred  thoufand  inha- 
bitants, and  if  the  bulk  of  them  had  been  well  affec- 
ted, the  militia  might  have  amounted  to  twenty 
thoufand.  His  lord/hip  fays  that  the  whole  mili- 
tia of  the  ifland  are  about  twenty-five  thoufand. 
This  is  a  pitiful  portion  in  a  population  of  four  mil- 
lions*. It  is  hard  to  fay  whether  the  catholics  of 
Connaught  or  the  proteftants  of  Ulfter  would  feel 
the  greaterl  impatience  to  join  an  invader.  Thus 
the  left  arm  of  England  would  be  cut  off  without, 
perhaps,  even  the  honour  of  a  battle.  This  is  the 
effentialjafety  that  Mr.  Hamilton  fpeaks  about. 

In   defiance    of   geography  and   hiflory,  Camil- 
lus  next  endeavours  to  undervalue  the  conquest  of 
the   Netherlands.  "  France  muft  be  frill  more  fa- 
'  tigued  and  exhaufted  even  than  her  adversaries. 
c  Her  acquifitioris  cannot  materially  vary  this  con- 
c  clulion ;  the  Low  Countries  muft  have  been  pref- 
c  ty  well  emptied  before  they  fell  into  her  hands." 
He  has  more  to  the  fame  effect    They  are  inhabi- 
ted   by  about    fix  millions  of  induftrious   people, 
among  the  richefl  in  the  world.     The  acquifition 
was  of  immenfe  importance.     If  BrufFels  and  Am- 
fterdam  had  been  reduced  to  afhes,  and  if  a  famine 

His  lordfhip  tells  us,  that  when  the  foldiers  went  offtoBantry 
Bay,  in  quell  of  the  French,  he  granted  their  wives  f^ur  pence  per 
day. titt  they  returned.  This  was  certainly  a  fplendid  allowance,  and 
well  worth  fighting  for.  In  a  pamphlet  printed  in  1794,  fir  Henry 
Clinton  fays,  that  «  the  army  is  now  waiting  to  receive  a  very  fmal! 
*•  (hare  of  plunder  taken  at  the  fiege  of  'Charleflown!" 
^  The  great  take  care  of  themfelves  at  leaft.  The  hiftory  of  The 
Crimes  of  the  Kings  of 'England*  relates  that  the  family  of  Mr.  Pitt 
enjoy  places  and  peafiona  to  the  amount  of  eighty-one  thoufand 
pounds  ftcrling  a  year. 


UNITED    STATES  17 

like  thofe  produced  by  Britifti  monopolies  in  Ben- 
gal, had  whitened  the  whole  country  with  the  bones 
of  its  inhabitants,  Gamillus  might  have  fome  reafbn 
for  this  infinuation.  The  French  did  not  think 
that  Holland  was  emptied,  as  appears  from  their  firft 
requisition.  Among  other  articles,  they  demanded 
two  hundred  thoufand  quintals  of  wheat,  feventy- 
five  millions  of  pounds  weight  of  hay,  fifty  millions 
ditto  of  oats,  and  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand  pairs 
of  fhoes,  two  hundred  thoufand  fhirts,  with  ftraw, 
breeches,  coats,  waiftcoats,  overalls,  hats,  and  fo 
forth,  all  in  one  month,  befides  twelve  thoufand  ox- 
en to  be  furnifhed  within  two  months.  This  enume- 
ration fhews  the  inaccuracy  of  Camillus,  and  what 
may  be  expe&ed  if  the  French  difembark  at  Mud 
ifland. 

u  The  British  government  maintains  a  proud  and 
£*  diftant    referve,    repels  every  idea  of  peace,  and 
"  inflexibly  purfues  the  path  of  war."  Mr.  Burke's 
two  letters  are  half  filled  with  lamentations  for  the 
debafement  of  England.     They  hold    out    a  ludi- 
crous refutation    of  Alexander  Hamilton.     u  The 
u  regicides    were  the  firft,"    faith    St.   Edmund, 
u  to  declare  war.  We  are  the  firft  to  Jue  for  peace. — 
u  The  fpeech  from  the  throne   in  the  opening  of 
c  the  feiiion  of  1795,  threw  out  oglings  and  glances 
c  of  tender  nefs.  Left  this  coquetting  (liould  feem  too 
tc  cold  and  ambiguous,  the  violent  paffion  for  a  re- 
u  lation  to  the  regicides,  produced,"  &c.  This  is  the 
proud  and  diftant  referve  defcribed  by  Camillus. — 
c  I  do  not  know  a  more  mortifying  fpectacle  than 
c  to  fee  the  afTembledmajefty  of  the  crowned  heads 
u  of  Europe  waiting  as  patient  fuitors  in  the  anti- 
c  chamber  of  Regicide.     They  wait,  it  feem s,  un- 
''  til  the  fanguinary  tyrant,  Carnot,  fliall  have  fnor- 
c  ted  away  the  indigefted   fumes  of  the  blood  of 
"  his  fovereign»"     The  remainder  of  this  fcene 

D 


58  HISTORY    OF    THE 

is   admirably  painted  ;  but  our  envoy,  Mr.  Pinck- 
ney,  is  not,  it  appears,  admitted  even  to  the  anti- 
chamber.     He  has  been   defired  to  quit  the  coun- 
try.  cc  At  this  fecond  humiliation  it  might  not  have 
fct  been  amifs  to    paufe  and  not  to  fquander  away 
"  the  fund  ofourjubmiffions"    A  report  from  the 
Committee  of  Agriculture  at  London  affirms,  that 
the  lands  lying  wade  in  Britain,  could  be  encreal- 
ed  in  value  by  twenty  millions  Jlerling  a  year  !  They 
deferred  this   acquisition    to    manufacture  French 
kings. — "  At  Baile,    it  was  thought   proper   that 
cc  Great  Britain  fhould  appear  at  this  market,  and 
"  bid  with  the  reft  for  the  mercy  of  the  people- 
££  king."     This  is  that  republic  which  the  Ameri- 
can emifTaries  of  England  are  fo  bufy  in  provoking. 
Mr.  Burke  then  relates  two  fruitlefs  applications; 
.made  by  England,  the  one  at  Berlin,  by  our  friend. 
Robert  Hammond,  and  the  other   at  Paris  through 
the  Danrfh  ambafTador.     Both  were  rejected.  cc  It 
"  might  be  thought  that  here,  at  length,  we  had 
'  touched  the  bottom   of  humiliation ;  our  lead 
"  was  brought  up  covered  with  mud.     But  in  the 
"  low  eft  deep,  a  lower  deep  was  to  open  for  us  ftill 
cc  more  profound   abyfles  of  difgrace  and  mame. 
<c  However,  in  we  leaped! — Thequeftion  is  not  now 
cc  how  we  are  to  be   affecled  with  it  in  regard  to 
cc  dignity.  That  is  gone.     I  {hall  fay  no  more  about 
u  it.     Light  lie  the  earth  on  the  allies  of  Englifli 
"  pride*  I" 

We  can  now  anfwer  the  query  of  Camillus. 
"t  How  happens  it  that  France  with  all  her  victories 

*  Britain  has  good  reafon  to  be  tired  of  this  war.  A  late  London 
newfpaper  fays,  that,  from  177  5;  to  1 782,  inclufive,  there  were  three 
thoufand  feven  hundred  and  forty-two  bankruptcies ;  arid  from  1 70,3 
to  1796,  inclufive,  three  thoufand  fix  hundred  and  eight.  Thus 
four  years  of  the  prefent  quarrel  have  done  as  much  harm  to  the 
mercantile  credit  as  right  ysars  of  the  laft, 


UNITED_STATES.  *$ 

c"  has  not  yet  been  able  to  extort  peace  /"  She  never 
afked  for  it.  "  It  is  probable/'  fays  he,  "  thenegoci- 
"  ation  (Jay's  treaty)  received  its  firft  impreflion  and 
"  even  its  general  outline  anterior  to  the  principal 
"  part  of  the  difafters  fuftained  by  the  coalefced 
cc  powers  in  thecourfe  of  thelaft  campaign  (1794)." 
If  Jay  had  been  warranted,  as  he  was  not,  to  make 
a  treaty  fuch  as  he  did,  its  firft  impreflion  would 
have  been  fketched  in  America  before  he  fet  out. 
But,  as  lately  obferved*,  the  time  chofen  for  ma- 
king it  was  highly  improper.  Camillus,  in  ancient 
or  modern  annals,  will  hardly  find  that,  with  views 
merely  commerical,  any  nation  ever  chofe  fb  hazar- 
dous a  time  for  entering  into  a  treaty.  Thjs  con- 
lideration  alone  fhould  have  laid  the  bargain  on 
its  back,  at  lead  till  the  conclufion  of  a  peace.  It 
was  juft  like  building  a  houfe  clofe  to  another 
which  is  on  fire.  During  the  refidence  of  Jay  in 
England,  every  poft  brought  him  news  of  French 
victories.  Hence,  even  if  the  outline  of  his  paper 
had  been  fketched  before  the  conqueft  of  Flanders, 
that  decifive  event  fhould  have  taught  him  to  make 
a  paufe.  A  fufpenfion  of  figning  the  treaty  for 
only  three  months  could  not  have  ruined  America. 
Thefe  things  were  as  hugs  as  high  Olympus.  They 
pierced  the  deafefl  ear.  They  thrufl  themfelves 
on  the  dulled  underflan cling. 

The  letter  of  Mr.  Pinckney  above  referred  to 

clearly  admits  the  advantages  that  might  have  been 

gained  by  delay.  "  The  bufinefs,  upon  the  whole/7 

fays  he,  a  has  been  concluded  more  beneficially  for 

'  us  than  I  had  any  hope  we  could  obtain  by  nego- 

c  ciationyfor  months  ago,  and,  in  my  opinion,  places 

c  us  in  a  more  advantageous  fituationthan  we  fhould 

"  have  been  in  by  becoming  parties  to  the 

*  American  Annual  Regifter,  Chapter  ®> 


20  HISTORY    OF   THE 

If  fo  much  had  been  acquired  by  one  delay  of  fix 
months,  reafon  pointed  out  a  fecondpoftppnement. 
Britain  has  been  ever  fmce  going  down  hill,  and  had 
the  affair  been  to  begin  at  this  time,  we  might  have 
had  any  terms  that  could  be  defired.     The  latter 
part  of  the  above  citation  obliquely  implies  that  Ame- 
rica had  no  choice  between  a  treaty  and  a  war.  The 
fuppofition  gives  a  poor  fpecimen  of  the  writer's  dif- 
cernment.  How  gladly  fome  people  would  be  at  get- 
ting into  war  appears  from  the  Aurora  of  the  5th  of 
April  1797- — UA  correfpondent  in  the   Centinel, 
<c  fays,  that  the  people  of  this  country  are  not  YET  ripe 
<c  for  an  alliance  offenflve  anddefenjiveivith  GreatBri- 
"  tai&i  but  fuggefh  that  the  event  is  probable."  This 
paffage  points  more  clearly  than  ufual  at  the  ultimate 
ptirpofeof'a   certain  party.     If  the  alliance  above 
recommended  were  to  take  place,  the  beft  fortune 
that  we  could  look  for  would  be  that  of  UlylTes  in 
the  den  of  the  Cyclops  ;  we  mould  be  refer  ved  as  the 
3aft    morfel.     If  any  motive  can  drive  out   of  our 
fancy  a  Britifh  alliance,  it  is  to  read  the  recent  fate  of 
the  allies  of  England,  as  defcribed  by  Mr.  Burke. 
They  (the  French)  have  hitherto  conftantly  cle- 
c  clined  any  other  than  a  treaty  with  a  fingle  pow- 
c  er. — In   that   light  the  regicide  power    finding 
'  each   of  them  infulated   and   unprotected,  with 
c  great  facility  gives  the  law  to  them  all.     By  this 
c  fyitem,  for  the  prefent,  an  incurable   diftruft  is 
c  fown  amongft  the  confederates  ;  and  in  future  all 
:c  alliance  is  rendered  impracticable.     It  is  thus  they 
"  have  treated  with  Pruffia,  with  Spain,  with  Sar- 
c  dinia,  with  Bavaria,  with  the  eccleilaflical  fl'ates, 
c  with  Saxony  ;  and  here  we  fee  them  refufe   to 
c  treat  with  Great  Britain  in   any  other  mode.  *' 
Suppofe  that  we  (hall  have  entered  into  the  alliance 
recommended  by  the  Centinel,    and  that  Britain, 
within  fix  months,  patches  up  a  feparate  peace. 


UNITED    STATES.  21 

while  Hoche's  buffers  are  whetting  their  fabres  in 
the  barracks  of  Dublin.  America  would  then  make 
but  a  lorry  figure  in  a  folitary  negociation.  Befides, 
we  cannot  truft  our  ally.     This  .appears  by  an  ex- 
tract  from  the  journals  of  Congrefs,   in  the  year 
1779.      "We  are  contending,"   fay  they,    againfi 
"  a  kingdom  crumbling  to  pieces* ',    a  nation  with- 
"  out  public  virtue,    and  a    people  fold   and   be- 
trayed by  their  own  reprefentatives ;    againfi  a 
c  prince  governed  by  his  paffions,  and  a  miniftry 
"  without   confiilency  or  wifdom ;  againft  armies 
^  half  paid,   and  generals  half  trufted   [thefe  were 
"  two  flagrant   falfehoods],  againft  a  government 
c  equal  only  (obferve  this  only)  to  plans  of  plunder, 
c  conflagration,  and  murder,  a  government  noted 
c  for  its  violations  of  the  rights  of  religion^  juftice, 
4  humanity,  and  mankind,  and  revolting  from  the 
"  protection  of  'Providence  !" — -u  Our  armies  inFlan- 
4C  ders  fwore   terribly,  "  faid  uncle  Toby,  u  but 
"  nothing  like  this  !"     As  for  Providence,  the  peo- 
ple of  England  held  frequent  faft  days  for  military 
iuccefs.     This  delicate  fpecimen  of  the  mob-ftile 
was  part  of  a  letter  from  Congrefs  to  their  conftitu- 
ents,  and  was  draughted,  at  their   defire,  by  Mr. 
John  Jay.     They  fhould  have  faid   nothing  about 
half-paid  armies,  till  they  had  been  half  able  to  pay 
their  own.     Several  continental  officers,  on  cafting 
up  the   difference   between  dirty  pafteboard   and 
hard  (liver,  found,  during  the' war 7  that  they  were 
fighting  for  about   one  cent  per  dayt.     Yet  they 
continued  to  fupport  the  caufe,  ankj  to  fink  money 
in  it.     But  the  object  of  the  above  quotation  is  to 
point  out  the  confiftency  of  our  envoy,  and  how  not- 

*  Kow  does  this  agree  with  Camillus  ? 

t  This  is  affirmed  by  ag  cntleman,  in  Philadelphia  who  was  one 
of  them, 


22  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ably  the  ftile    of  1779  agrees   with  that  of  1794. 

Only  poor  fifteen  years  have  converted  a  horde  of 

demons,  for  that  is  the  amount  of  his  billingfgate 

description,    into  the  mofl  upright   people  in  the 

world. 

We  have  remarked  on  the  hafte  with  which  Mr, 
Jay  clofed  his  treaty,  and  how  much  might  have 
been  won  by  deferring  it.  But  the  condud:  of  the 
i>egociator  is  eclipfed  by  that  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  poffibility 
of  a  rupture  with  France  ever  once  came  into  the 
conception  of  mofl  of  our  citizens.  A  majority  in  the 
Ho  Life  of  Reprefentatives  of  Congrefs  did  indeed 
forefee  or  fear  it.  One  of  them  was  afked  why 
they  did  not  fhite  it  in  their  fpeeches,  inftead  of  ma- 
ny trifles,  which  were  advanced  againfl  the  treaty. 
He  replied  that  "they  did  not  think  it  prudent, 
:  The  Hamiltonians  would  inflantly  have  accufed 
c  them  of  encouraging  the  French  to  begin  a  war 
i£  with  this  country/' 

This  is  the  very  defign  of  fome  of  that  party 
themfel ves .  When  a  man  calls  hard  names  at  his 
neighbour  he  is  underflood  as  defiling  to  quarrel. 
Mr.  Monroe,  American  ambaffador  to  France,  con- 
dueled  himfelf  with  prudence  and  popularity.  In 
December  1796,  he  prefertted  letters  of  recall,  and 
bade  farewell  to  the  Executive  Directory,  in  the 
mofl  amicable  terms.  His  addrefs  was  received 
with  relpe^l  and  cordiality.  He  congratulated  the 
nation  on  their  victories,  and  their  new  conftitution, 
In  terms  not  as  flrong,  by  twenty  degrees,  as  thofe 
of  Mr.  Wafhington  o-n  receiving  the  French  flag. 
The  Gazette  of  the  United  States,  for  the  29th  of 
March,  1797,  fcolds  him  for  this  ad:  of  civility  fo 
contrafted  to  the  infolence  of  Mr.  Pickering. 
Though  you  could  crouch,  and/weel,  and  lick^  and 
*  faivn^  on  ftich  an  occaflon,  your  fellow  citizen- . 


UNITED    STATES.  23 

<c  can  feel  nothing  for  you  but  contempt;  and  for 
"  the  Direftory>  who  require  of  the  United  States 
4£  an  aft  that  would  proftrate  them  in  the  duft,  the 
cc  utmoft  indignation"  There  is  much  more  in  this 
ftile.  The  alleged  aft  referred  to,  is,  that  the  Direc- 
tor}'- re fufed  to  admit  an  American  minifter  till  the 
United  States  hadredrefjed  their  grievances. 

As  for  the  contempt  and  indignation  fo  fiercely 
ipoke  about,  a  different  tone  may  foon  be  found  ne- 
celfary.  Mantua  is  at  length  given  up.  Five  Au£- 
trian  armies  have  been  deftroyed,  and  an  hundred 
thoufand  prifoners  taken,  during  a  (ingle  campaign, 
in  Italy.  Compared  to  this  work,  the  American 
revolution  was  mere  fcratching.  The  Emperor 
cannot  pay  his  troops  with  Englifti  bank  notes.  He 
muft  either  make  an  immediate  peace,  or  be  de- 
throned. It  does  not  appear  that  the  United  States 
could,  in  one  fummer,  raife  five,  or  indeed  two 
iuch  armies,  in  defence  of  the  frontier  of  Canada; 
and  it  is  likely  enough  that  the  French  may  reclaim 
that  province  from  England,  and  require  this  coun- 
try to  reftore  its  ancient  boundaries.  They  would 
enter  upon  fuch  a  fcheme  with  every  advantage. 
They  have  already  a  numerous  colony  of  their 
own  people  in  Canada,  who  are  acquainted  with  it 
as  well  as  the  New  Englanders.  They  have  always 
exceeded  the  Britifh  in  the  art  of  gaining  the  Indi- 
ans. The  war  with  the  favages  has  been  computed 
to  coft  yearly  a  million  of  dollars  ;  but  with  a  French 
army  to  fupport  them,  a  campaign  might  devour 
fifty  millions.  The  ceflion  of  Canada  would  be 
one  of  the  leaft  wonderful  events  of  the  prefent  war. 
A  great  part  of  the  people  of  New  England  have 
been  uncomonly  folicitious  to  exafperate  the  repub- 
lic, and,  after  the  treatment  which  they  have  alfb 
diligently  beftowed  on  the  fouthern  ftates,  and  their 
numerous  menaces  of  disjunction,  the  latter  might 


*4  HISTORY    OF    THE 

chufe  to  give  themfelves  but  fmall  concern  in  the 
difputc.  On  the  fouth-eaftern  frontier^  the  United 
States  are  flill  more  vulnerable.  Were  Victor 
Hughes,  with  three  or  four  battalions  of  black  troops, 
to  land  on  the-coaft  of  Virginia,  the  horrors  of  St. 
Domingo  would  immediately  be  renewed.  Geor- 
gia flill  continues  to  import  negroes  ;  a  praftice 
deferving  the  levered  reprobation. 

When  we  confider  the  terror,  which  France  has, 
for  three  years  pail,  infpired  in   Europe,  the  con- 
queft  of  Canada,    and  the  extenflon   of  its  limits, 
will  feem  but  as  duft  hrthe  balance.     The  brutal 
infolence  with  which  the  republicans  are  treated  in 
the  Columbian  Centinel,  can  arife  only  from  anvui- 
acquaintance  with  the  poflible  extent  of  danger  to 
New  England.     Count   Montgaillard  is  a  French 
royalift.    His  enmit}^  to  the  revolution  is  as  fmcere 
as  that  of  any  printer  or  preacher  in    the  eaflern 
itates.     In  ^1794,  he  publifhed  a  pamphlet  on  The 
Neceffity  of 'continuing  the  war.  "  The  generation./' 
lays  he,   cc  which  is  to  invade  and  deftroy  Europe 
c  has  now  reached  the  twelfth  year  of  its  age.  It 
c  was  born  in  the  very  mid  ft  of  a  revolution  [that 
c  of  America  perhaps]  ;  it  has  feen  all  the  epocha 
4  of  this  [the  French]  revolution  ;  it  has  inhaled 
c  all  its  principles,    and  it  has  fucked  in  every  poi- 
4  ion  by  which  it  was  infecled. — Where  is  the  trea- 
'  ty  of  peace  which  can  conftrain  this  riling  genera- 
c  tion    to   renounce  fo  horrible  a  conqueft."     He 
infifts,  like  Burke,  that  thewarmuft  be  continued  ; 
he  even  affirms,  that  the  republic  mujl  be  fubdu- 
ed.     When  this  piece   appeared,   the  French  had 
not  conquered  Lombardy.     They  had  not  plun- 
dered  one-half    of  Germany  ;    and  the   bank  of 
England  had  not  ftopt   payment.     Arthur  Young, 
in  the  pamphlet  already   cited,  fpeaks  in  the  fame 
tone.     "  Activity,  vigour,  and  energy,  fuch  as  the 


UNITED   STATES.  1$ 

"  world  has  not  feen,  are  exerted  to  fpreadVkflruc- 
"  tion. — The  late  manifestation  of  the  French  pow- 
cc  er  is  too  tremendous  to  be  confidered  but  •with 
u  alarm  and  terror*  The  independence  of  Europe 
"  is  at  flake/'  He  fays  that  the  war  had,  at  that 
time,  cofl  France  thirteen  hundred  thoujand  men* 
Every  nation  fears  her,  except  America,  or  rather 
the  tories,  and  the  monied  intereft  of  our  country. 
William  Gobbet  has  fet  up  a  gazette  in  this  cityT 
for  the  exprefs  end  of  reviling  France.  He  does 
not  conceal  his  defign  of  bringing  the  nation  into 
a  French  war.  Sincerity  is  always  refpeftable,  and 
he  cannot,  as  an  editor,  be  charged  with  a  want  of 
that  virtue.  If  we  are  plunged  into  fuch  a  fitua- 
tion,  his  fubfcribers,  and  not  Mr.  Gobbet,  muft  be 
held  accountable  for  the  mifchief  that  he  has  done. 
It  will  be  nothing  wonderful,  if,  before  three  years 
elapfe,  a  French  fleet  mall  anchor  in  the  Delaware, 
and  compel  Philadelphia  to  deliver  to  the  republic 
both  him  and  them.  Myriads  of  precedents  of 
this  kind  are  to  be  found  in  hiftory. 

Dr.  Ames  once  obferved,  in  Congrefs,  that 
"  this  country  is  rifing  into  a  giant's  ftrength."  He 
was  right.  Ten  years  more  of  peace  will  double  the 
population  of  the  whole  range  of  weftern  ftates  from 
Vermont  to  TennalTee.  Above  an  hundred  and  fifty 
thoufand  people  are  annually  added  to  our  num- 
bers, and  the  ratio  of  increafe  is  conftantly  aug- 
menting. It  will  foon  amount  to  two  hundred  thou- 
fand yearly,  or  perhaps  it  has  already  reached  that 
proportion.  This  is  an  advantage  enjoyed  with 
equal  happinefs  by  no  other  nation.  The  addition- 
al fwarms  will,  for  centuries  to  come,  have  na~ 
want  of  room. 

"  The  world  is  all  before  them,  where  to  choofe 
«  Their  place  of  reft,1' 

fc 


*6  HISTORY    OF   THE 

They  will  not,  for  the  fake  of  fubiiftence,  be 
compelled  to   bury  themfelves  forever   in  mines, 
or  iinwholefome  manufactories*,  or  to  ruih  into  mer- 
cenary regiments.  Whatever  profeffion  they  (li  all 
choofe,  a  moderate  portion  of  induftry  can  hardly  fail 
tofupply  a  plentiful  competence.  But  a  foreign  war, 
and  moll  efpecially  a  French  war,  will  aiTuredly  re- 
t  ird,  and  may  finally  blaft  this  faireft  harvefl  of  fe- 
licity that  the  human   race  hath  ever  feen.  Recur- 
ring to   the   metaphor  of  Dr.  Ames,  it  would  be 
madnefs  to  expofe  the  atlantean  infant  of  America 
to  the  arm  of  a  giant,  whole  limbs  are  completely 
formed,  whofe  joints  are  firmly  knit  in  his  tremen- 
dous maturity  of  manhood.    Let  us  forbear  then  to 
Imitate,  while  we  condemn  the  infolence  of  Genet, 
or  to  propagate  the  exploded  calumnies  of  Fauchet. 
Let  us  no  longer  whet  the  edge  and  embitter  the 
venom  of  our  faith  by  reviling  a  diflant  nation  for 
having,  like  moft  of  ourfelves,  granted  an  univerfal 
right  of  confcience.     To  fpeak  plainly,  fome  of  the 
holders  of  public  flock,  with  Alexander  Hamilton 
In  their  van,  have  excited  this  clamour.     Witnefs 
the  letters  of  PHOCIONt  !  Thefe  people  tremble 

*  In  England,  exceflive  labour  kills  perhaps  as  many  people  as  hec 
foreign  wars.  See  Buchan's  Domeftic  Medicine. 

i  Alias,  Dr.  William  Smith.  The  author  of  An  Examination  of  tie 
late  Proceedings  m  Cwgrefs,  as  to  Mr.  Hamilton's  conduft,  fays  that 
the  doftor  ""holds  between  three  and  four  hundred  mares  in  the 
«  bank  of  the  United  States,  and  has  obtained  difcounts  ad  libitum." 
The  bank  was  incorporated  by  an  aft  dated  the  zjth  of  February, 
.  A  (hare  contains  four  hundred  dollars.  Three  hundred  fhares 
thus  to  an  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  dollars.  In  five  years, 


1  79  1  .  A  (hare  contains  four  hundred  dollars.  Three  hundred  fhares 
come  thus  to  an  hundred  and  twenty  thoufand  dollars.  In  five  years, 
from  the  jft  of  January,  1792,  to  the  ift  of  January,  1797,  Dr- 
Smith  would  draw  nine  thoufand  fix  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  at 
cHit  per  cent.  ;  in  whole,  forty-eight  thoufand  dollars  of  intcreft. 
Add  this  to  the  principal  fum,  and,  with  the  advantage  of  difcount*, 
we  may  reckon  fafely,  that  he  has  netted  in  whole  at  lead  two  hun- 
dred thoufand  dollars. 

The  world  fays  that  thefe  fhares  in  the  bank  were  formed  by  an 
accumulation  of  Congrefs  certificates,  which  the  dodor  bought 


UNITED    STATES.  *7 

for  their  paper,  which  no  well  informed  citizen  will 
ever  think  of  molefling  ;  and,  quite  overfhooting 
the  mark,  they  wi(h  to  preferve  it  by  plunging  the 
continent  into  a  Britifh  alliance  and  a  French  war* 
The  latter  is  only  another  name  for  a  fecond  American 
revolution.  Were  Pichegru  at  Elkton  to-morrow, 
many  citizens  would  feel  more  than  a  ipirit  of  re- 
fiftance.  The  public  can  trace  the  contrivers  of  fuch 
a  calamity  ;  and,  before  oppofing  the  houfe-breaker 
from  without,  they  would  perhaps  begin  with  punifh- 
ingthofe  who  had  turned  the  key.  It  has  already  been 
proved  in  the  Aurora,  that  the  flambeau  difpatch  of 
Mr.  Pickering  contains  elaborate  mifquotation  and 
direct  untruth.  •  Our  fecretary  takes  the  morteft 
way  to  provoke  the  rage  of  a  conqueror  alike  inflex- 
ible in  defeat  and  fuccefs,  intoxicated  with  the  ho- 
mage, enriched  with  the  fpoils  of  Europe,  and  yet 
imexhaufted  by  his  thoufand  victories. 

In  this  chapter  the  narrative  of  the  year  1796 
has  made  fmall  progrefs,  but  fomething  perhaps 
has  been  gained  in  point  of  information.  The 
motion  of  general  Smith,  with  which  it  fet  out, 
regarding  the  Britifh  treaty,  introduced  fome  re- 
flections on  the  extreme  hazard  of  a  French  war, 
and  on  the  temerity  or  perfidy  of  thofe  who  have 
led  the  United  States  into  fo  critical  a  fituation. 
The  authority  of  Edmund  Burke,  and  other  Intel-* 
ligent  Englifli  writers,  was  next  appealed  to  with 
regard  to  the  power  of  that  republic,  as  a  coun- 
terpoife  to  the  fyftematic  and  voluminous  fallacies 
of  Camillus.  This  induced  naturally  to  a  compa- 
rative view  of  the  respective  force  of  the  two  na- 
tions by  land  and  fea  ;  and  the  immeafurable  infe- 

from  the  continental  army  at  eighteen  pence  or  two  (hillings  per 
pound.  They  may  have  originally  coft  him  ten  thoufand  dollars.  As 
Hamilton  was  the  progenitor  of  this  mafter-piece  of  finance,  the  doc« 
tor  has  been  aftiye  in  difplaying  his  gratitude. 


s3  HISTORY    OF   THE 

riority  of  America  was  the  refult  of  examination* 
The  fhameful  attempts  made  to  widen  the  breach 
between  the  two  countries  was  illuflrated  by  addi- 
tional remarks.  We  have  clofed  with  pointing  out 
the  peculiar  advantages  that  America  may  hope  for, 
beyond  any  other  nation,  from  the  continuance  of 
peace  ;  and  we  have  feen  ibme  of  the  motives  of 
that  party,  who,  under  pretended  zeal  for  her  con- 
flitution,  wifh  to  difturb  her  tranquility.  To  elu- 
cidate the  numberlels  advantages  of  a  pacific  fy£- 
tern  a  great  deal  yet  remains  to  be  faid.  So  much 
untruth  and  deception  have  been  ftudioufly  heaped 
on  the  fubjecl,  that  much  previous  labour  is  requi- 
red to  remove  the  rubbifli,  before  even  the  founda- 
tion of  a  narrative  can  be  properly  fketched  out. 
The  moft  painful  portion  of  the  tafk  is  to  beftow 
cenfure  on  perfons  or  parties,  and  fometimes  to 
hold  up  even  a  large  majority,  of  the  nation  in  a- 
light  not  extremely  reputable.  Flattery  to  the 
prejudices  and  vices  of  the  public  has  hitherto 
been  the  bane  of  altnoft  every  hiftorian.  This  fault 
fhall,  in  the  prefent  work,  be  avoided  as  much 
as  poflible,  though  at  the  requifite  expence  of 
difpleafing  the  violent  of  every  party.  When 
we  fometimes  flop  to  criticife  the  paragraph  or  efTay 
in  a  newfpaper,  it  fliould  be  remembered  that  to 
thefe  publications  the  people  of  the  United  States 
do  mod  univerfally  refort  for  political  knowledge. 
By  feeing  detected  fome  dozens  of  notorious  fic- 
tions in  that  fhape,  perfons  at  a  great  diflance  from 
'  fources  of  accurate  information  may  come  to  ac- 
quire the  habit  of  thinking  more  boldly  for  them- 
felves,  and  of  demanding  evidence  before  they  be- 
lieve an  afTertion. 

The  enfuing  chapter  will  partly  confifl  of  fpeci- 
an  ens  of  federal  composition,  as  a  key  to  the  pro- 
jects and  talents  of  that  party.  The  next  three  chap- 


UNITED   STATES.  sf 

ters  proceed  to  fome  remarks  on  the  mode  of  fup- 
prefling  the  weftern  infurreftion,  of  repelling  the 
favages  on  the  fouth- weftern  frontier,  of  compil- 
ing the  prefent  national  debt,  and  of  negociating 
Jay's  treaty.  The  city  of  Washington,  and  the 
treatment  of  the  late  continental  army,  will  merit 
and  receive  fome  inveftigation.  Thefe  topics  are 
intimately  connected  with  the  bufinefs  of  the  fe£- 
fion  of  Congrefs  about  to  be  defcribed.  Without 
fome  prefatory  explanations  of  this  kind,  a  reader 
might  find  himfelf  in  the  fame  ftate  of  embarrafP- 
ment,  as  if  he  were  to  begin  a  perufal  of  Homer, 
at  the  thirteenth  book  of  the  Iliad. 

The  firftfive  introductory  chapters  having  been 
employed  on  political  fubjects,  we  (hall  be  prepared 
to  go  on  with  the  journal  of  Congrefs.  As  variety  is 
the  foul  of  enjoyment,  and  as  this  work  is  intended 
for  the  entertainment  of  every  clafs  of  people,  an 
intermediate  andmifcellaneous  chapter  will  be  given 
on  the  prefent  internal  ftate  of  America.  A  fwarm 
of  books  of  travels,  in  this  country  will,  among 
other  articles  of  amufement,  be  brought  on  the  ta- 
pis, and  fome  of  their  injurious  or  abfurd  obferva- 
tions  with  refpect  to  America  will  be  candidly  ex- 
plained. To  ourfelves  refutation  may  be  unneceiTary, 
but  feveral  copies  of  the  prefent  work  will  be  fent 
to  Europe,  where  it  may  chance  to  be  reprinted. 
This  part  of  the  volume  will  there  ferve  as  a  vin- 
dication of  America  againft  the  errors  of  thofe,  who 
cither  did  not  perceive  truth,  or  did  not  chufe  to 
tell  it. 

A  work  of  the  prefent  kind  has  been  much  wan- 
ted. We  complain  that  newfpaper  details  are  imper- 
fect, prejudiced,  and  contradictory.  Thefe  charges 
are  true,  but  the  printer  cannot  avoid  affording  foun- 
dation for  them.  The  narrative  of  to-morrow  is 
often  at  variance  with  that  of  to-day ;  and  neither 


S©  HISTORY    OF    THE 

he  nor  his  readers  can,  fometimes,  be  certain  which 
to  prefer.  Like  Penelope,  an  editor  mufl  frequent- 
ly unravel  at  night  the  labour  of  the  morning  ;  while 
the  public,  amidit  the  fhreds  and  fragments  of  infor- 
mation, can  hardly  determine  what  to  believe  or 
to  re] eel. 

The  mere  bulk  of  a  daily  newfpaper  makes  its 
mode  of  information  often  intricate,  and  fometimes 
inaccefiible.  A  folio  volume  of  twelve  hundred  and 
forty-eight  pages  may  damp  the  curiofity  of  the 
boldeft  reader.  No  one  newfpaper  can  relate  eve- 
ry thing.  The  proprietor  generally  wifbes,  as  far 
as  he  conveniently  can,  to  decline  publishing  what 
his  competitors  have  already  given; to  the  world. 
Aim  oft  every  fheefois,  likewife,  half  filled  with  ad- 
vertifements  which  are  entirely  ufelefs  to  moil  rea- 
ders. Thefe  clef  eels  in  newfpapers  cannot,  by  di- 
ligence or  candour,  be  entirely  firanned.  But  they 
point  out  the  expediency  of  an  annual  compilation, 
where  {election,  brevity,  and  arrangement  can  more 
eafily  find  place.  Many  citi-zensof  Philadelphia  take 
in  fix  daily  newfpapers  at  any  early  expence  of  about 
fifty  dollars.  Three  different  prints  are  a  common 
f apply.  Not  one-half  or  perhaps  one-tenth  part  of 
their  contents  are  read  ;  and  they  are  fometimes 
caft  into  the  fire  without  being  opened.  After  fuch 
a  wade  of  money,  a  charge  of  one  or  two  dollars 
for  a  yearly  publication  cannot  be  held  extravagant. 
The  compiler  of  fuch  a  book  has  the  greateft  ad- 
vantage in  coming  at  a  diflance  behind  the  events 
which  he  is  to  relate.  He  can  expatiate  on  the  igno- 
rance of  ftatefmen  who,  at  eafter,  did  not  exactly 
forefee  what  was  to  happen  next  chriflmas,  and 
which,  a  twelve  month  after  it  has  pad,  he  fees  ve- 
ry diftinclly.  He  is  amazed -at  the  clulnefs  of  news- 
printers,  who,  with  ten  difcordant  accounts  of  a  bat- 
tle before  them,  did  not,  for  fome hours,  diftingvrifU 


UNITED    STATES..  3* 

the  right  one.  With  judgement  and  induflry,  he 
may  write  an  ufeful  performance ;  and,  by  forne  ad- 
dreis,  he  can  look  extremely  wife  at  the  expence 
ef  his  predeceflbrs. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Ch aracter  of  Mr .   Gallatin . — Gonneflicu t  -poetry .  — 
Major    Jack/on. — John    P^atts. — The.  Bofton 

Federal.  Orrery. Cur  tins. His    exaggerated 

ftatement  of 'Briti/h  rejources. — Remarks  an  paper 
money. — Caiifes  of  the  preference  of  Britain  to 
France  in  the  federal  party . — Democratical  con- 
fpiracy  developed  by  Cur  tins. — Defence  ofjejfer- 
Jon,  Madijon,  Giles,  Parker,  Chriftie,  drr. — Fables 
from  Pitt/burgh. — Curious  prejentment  by  a  grand 
jury  in  Georgia. — Purity  of  Bofton. 

"     A   S  to  Gallatin,  the  feditious  Gallatin  !  What 

jLJL  mall  I  fay  ?  How  mall I  defcribe  that  com- 

<c  pound    of  vice  and  depravity,  that    difciple   of 

cc  meannefs,  corruption,  debauchery,  and  idlenefs. 

"  He  is  a  foreigner  by  birth  and  education."    [Of 

courfe,  he  muft    be  a  rafcal]..    cc  For  fome   time 

cc  after  his   arrival   in  this  country,  he  wandered 

"  about  the  diftrift  of  Maine,  like  Cain,  a  fugitive 

c  and  vagabond,  deftitu.te  of  the  means  of  honeil 

cc  fubfiflence. — The  writer  of  this  felt  the  effefe 

<c  of  his  own  liberality  for  months  afterwards  ! — 

c  Unable  to  pay  for  a  lodging,  or  to  pur  chafe  the 

c  neceiTaries  of  life,  it  was  his  cuftom  to  fleep  in 

c  barns,  and  under  the  foliage  of  hedges,  and  not 

c  unufually  in  the  arms  of  fome  mameful  (trumpet, 

tc  The  fragments  of  the  kitchen  fatisfied  the  era- 

"  vings  of  hunger.     We  find  him  next  among  the 


s*  HISTORY   OF   THE 

"  infurgents  of  the  weftern  counties  in  Pennfyl- 
c  vania*  The  late  whilky  rebellion  there  is  prin- 
*cxcipally  attributed  to  him."'  There  is  ten  times 
more  of  this  trumpery.  It  is  copied  from  the  Ken- 
nebeck  Intelligencer ;  and  was  published  about 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1797  to  defeat  the  re- 
eleclion  of  Mr.  Dearborne,  a  member  of  Congrefs 
for  Maffachufetts.  This  is  one  fample  of  the  fe- 
deral eloquence  of  New  England.  If  Mr,  Galla- 
tin  had  wifhed  for  an  opportunity  of  inflaming 
the  public,  he  could  not  have  chofen  a  better  topic 
than  American  finance.  Yet  his  treatife  on  it  is 
written  in  the  mod  harmlefs  ftile,  and  feems  to 
evince  an  unuftial  degree  of  good  nature  and  for- 
bearance. 

About  the  fame  time  with  this  production,  the 
Connecticut  Courant  contained  Guillotina,  a  feries. 
of  rhimes,  written  by  one  Trumbull.  They  were 
rcpublifhed  in  a  Providence  newfpaper.  A  few 
lines  will  fhew  in  what  kind  of  kennel  this  Con- 
necticut mule  dabbles ;  and  how  wretchedly  a 
certain  party  labour  under  a  dearth  of  decent  ad- 
vocates. 

"  Once  more  my  fond  attentions  turn,. 
(t  Where  Pennfylvania's  patriots  burn. 
*(  See  Mifflin  tlretching  out  the  laws, 
«  To  aid  the  anti-federal  caufe." 

This  refers  to  the  fcandalous  artifices  employ- 
ed in  Pennfylvania  to  flop  the  arrival  of  the  poft 
at  this  city  with  votes  for  electors  at  the  late  elec- 
tion of  Prefident,  and  to  the  activity  of  governor 
Mifflin  in  detecting  a  variety  of  frauds  made  ufe  of 
by  the  federal  party.  If  Trumbull  had  felt  any 
fenfe  of  common  honefly,  or  common  fliame,  he 
would  not  have  ftirred  the  afhes  of  a  flory  fb.difr 
honorable  to  his  friends,. 


UNITED    STATES.  33 

<c  See  him  with  Barclay,  John,  and  Dallas^ 
"  (Poor  Pennfylvania  keeps  no  gallows) 
"  Play  many  a  democratic  prank, 
"  In  fleecing  Pennfylvania  bank." 

One  may-fay,  with  parfon  Adams,  "  I  wouldra- 
"  ther  be  the  fubjedt  of  fuch  verfes,  than  the  au- 
"  thor."  Several  months  before  this  piece  ap- 
peared, Mr.  Dallas  had  publifhed  a  certificate 
that  the  bank  of  Pennfylvania  was,  at  the  time 
referred  to,  in  his  debt.  This  fad  could  not 
be  unknown  to  the  libeller  of  Hartford.  But  old 
braj's  'will  make  a  new  pan,  fays  the  proverb.  A 
fi&ion,  though  refuted  in  profe,  may  have  a  joyful 
refurreftion  in  verfe.  The  polite  introduction  6f 
the  gallows  {hews  how  flrongly  fqme  of  the  federal 
party  third  for  blood.  They  have  given  more 
than  one  intimation  to  that  purpofe.  The  New- 
York  Gazette  has  an  efTay  by  William  Wil cocks, 
dated  the  ijth  of  November,  1796.  "  Surely," 
fays  he,  "  the  guillotine  has  not  done  all  its  du- 
"  ty !"  He  rails  at  the  machine  in  France,  yet  re- 
commends the  fettingup  of  another  in  America,  for 
that  is  his  plain  inference.  Some  people  fhoulcf 
not,  in  common  prudence,  be  fo  forward  to  Ipeak 
of  banks,  till  they  give  a  fatisfa&ory  account  of 
their  connection  with  Alexander  Hamilton,  and 
his  bank  of  the  United  States.  "  The  books  of 
"  transfer  at  the  treafury,  and  the  books  at  the 
c  bank,  are  held  fecret  under  the  obligation  of  art 
c  oath,  on  all  perfons  who  ufe  orinfpeft  them,  not 
c  to  reveal  the  names  or  amount  of  ftock  hoi- 
"  ders*."  So  much  concealment  can  hardly  be 

fr  See  An  Examination  of  the  late  Proceedings,  in  Congrefs,  re*» 
fpefting  the  official  conduct  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treafury, 
led  8th  of  March,,  1793,  p.  25. 


34  HISTORY   OF   THE 

for  an  honourable  purpofe.     The  righteous  arc 
bold  as  a  lion.     Trumbull  proceeds  thus  : 

S(  When'Fauchet  kept  an  open  mint, 
"  They  doubtlefs  had  a  finger  in't." 

This  is  another  exploded  untruth.  The  rhymer 
goes  on  at  this  rate  through  five  columns  of  rib- 
baldry.  The  lines  now  cited  are  fufficient  to  (hew 
the  claffical  difcernment  of  his  friends,  and  what 
fort  of  aid  they  will  ftoop  to  receive.  Swanwick, 
Giles,  Gallatin,  and  a  long  lift  of  that  party  are 
reviled  fadly.  Dr.  Franklin,  his  grandfon,  Mr,- 
Bache,  and  Thomas  Paine  meet  with  the  fame  ufage. 
General  Wafhington,  asufual,  is  thoroughly foaked 
in  the  treacle  of  panegyric.  But  when  the  Prefi- 
tlent  notified  his  intention  to  reiign,  the  party  foon 
began  to  change  their  tune.  Wilcocks  has  faid 
<c  that  thzfuljome  adulation  of  the  Prefident  on  the 
4  reception  of  the  French  flag  was  the  moft  deroga- 
,<c  tory  part  of  his  adminiftration*." 

The  charge  of  being  a  fulfome  fycophant  does  not 
entirely  agree  with  the  fuperb  encomiums,  which 
Wilcocks  has  fo  frequently  plaiftered  upon  Gene- 
ral Wafhington.  This  veering  about  lets  us  into 
the  real  character  of  fome  people,  and  how  little 
they  care  about  the  General,  when  his  reputation 
ceafesto  promote  their  private  ends. 

But  this  revolt  was  overbalanced  by  Major 
William  Jackfon,  furveyor  of  the  port  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  fpeech  of  the  Prefident,  on  the  8th  of 
December,  1796,  was  followed  up,  next  day,  by 
the  Major,  with  a  puff  in  one  of  our  newlpapers. 
It  begins  thus.  "  To  attempt  an  illuftration  of  a 
"  fubjeft  in  itfelf  fb  illumined  as  the  fpeech  of  our 
"  moil  excellent  Prefident  were  an  arrogance 

*  Aarora,  31  ft  December,  1796. 


UNITED   STATES.  ,      3$ 

<c  which  we  utterly  difclaim."  He  goes  on  white- 
wafliing  for  a  considerable  length.  "  The  diftant 
tc  iettler  on  the  MiffiflUppi  beholds  with  exultation 
cc  that  his  happinefs  forms  a  confideration  in  the 
u  mind  of  the  government,  co-equal  with  that  of 
cc  his  fellow  citizen  on  the  Atlantic."  He  is  equally 
entitled  to  protection  ;  for  his  welfare  is  eflential 
to  the  union.  Hence  exultation  would  bemifplac- 
cd.  A  Prefldent  and  other  officers  of  government 
are  paid  for  doing  their  duty ;  and,  if  they  fail  of 
performing  it  to  public  fatisfadHon,  there  are,  if  we 
could  only  believe  fo,  abundance  of  men  as  good 
as  the  beft  of  them.  Major  Jackfon  here  points  at 
the  Spanifh  treaty  ;  but  he  might  have  reflected 
that  the  fame  adminiftration,  by  the  weakeft  and 
meaneft  fpecies  of  trimming,  has  induced  the  dan- 
ger of  a  French  war,  and  if  that  happens,  thewe£- 
tern  waters  will  be  more  completely  blocked  up 
than  ever. 

"  Is  there  a  feaman  belonging  to  the  United 
u  States,  or  a  connection  of  that  valuable  clafs  of 
<c  citizens,  whofe  vows  are  not  offered  for  the 
"  good  of  him,  whofe  head  andheart  havebeen*fo 
"  much  occupied  with  their  concerns  ?"  This  was 
an  unfortunate  topic.  But  the  Major,  as  a  military 
man,  knows  that  the  weakeft  part  of  a  fortifica- 
tion has  moft  need  of  defence.  "  Where  is  the 
"  veteran  whofe  bofom  does  not  beat  in  refponfivc 
u  applaufe  to  the  eulogium  of  Wafhington  on 
"  military  fkill  ?"  If,  at  the  creation  of  the  public 
debt,  he  had  taken  a  fingle  ftep  to  fave  them  from 
indigence,  if  he  had  refufed  to  flgn.  the  ftatute  of 
limitations,,  and fome  other  laws  not  much  better*, 
their  bofoms  would  have  been  more  likely  to  ber.t. 
No  peculiar  (hare  of  blame  in  this  builnefs  lies  on 

*  American  Annvul  Regiftcr;  chap.  v.  and  xi, 


36  HISTORY   OF  THE 

the  Prefident.  The  great  body  of  the  people  have 
betrayed  entire  indifference  about  the  old  foldiers, 
other  wife  fuch  acts  never  could  have  paft.  At  the 
fame  time  money  is  unaccountably  wafted  on  fa- 
vages.  John  Watts,  a  Creek  warrior,  boafts  of 
having  taken  thirty-three  fcalps.  In  the  latter 
part  of  1796,  this  fellow,  and  a  number  of  others, 
came  to  Philadelphia,  where  they  feafted  at  an  ex- 
pence  of  four  thoufand  dollars*.  Thus  much  for 
Major  Jackfon. 

Nothing  is,  in  itfelf,  more  comtemptible,  and 
nothing  tends  more  certainly  to  defeat  its  own 
purpofe,  than  extravagant  praife.  Encomium  ne- 
ver appeared  in  a  more  farcical  fhape,  than  it  has 
often  afTumed  in  poetry.  Of  this  fort  of  writing  the 
Bofton  Federal  Orrery  afforded  a  miferable  fpeci- 
men,  in  the  Gratulatory  Addrefs  on  the  birth-day  of 
the  Prefident,  in  February,  1796. 

If  a  fir  anger  knew  nothing  elfe  of  the  hiftory  of 
the  American  war,  than  what  he  could  glean  from 
this  copy  of  verfes,  he  would  infer,  that  General. 
Wafhington  had  fingly,  and  exclufively,  extermi- 
nated the  Britifh  armies  in  a  perfonal  combat.  In 
the  laft  line  of  the  firflflanza,  this  rhymer  of  Ma£- 
fachufetts  calls  him  the  cc  Godlike  Ifafliington.* 
This  is  fomething  worfe  than  mere  nonfenfe*  It 
approaches  to  indecency  and  profanation. 

In  the  third  ftanza  we  meet  with  a  parallel  be- 
tween General  Wafliington  and  • :  let  the  rea- 
der, if  he  can,  conjecture  the  counter  part  of  this 
companion  1  Mofes,  the  Jew,  is  introduced  as  not 
fuperior  in  legiflative  or  military  merits,  to  the 
leader  in  our  revolution.  As  if  that  were  not 

*  This  is  ftated  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Chriftopher  Greenup>  a 
reprefentative  from  Kentucky,  The  writer  has  not  yet  feen  the  ae- 
compt. 


UNITED   STATES.  37 

enough,  there  follows  a  parallel  between  the  Pre- 
11  dent  and  the  Creator  of  the  Univerfe  ;  and  though 
this  ftyle  may  feem  ridiculous,  incredible,  and  mad, 
it  has  abfolutely  been  adopted  by  the  bard  of  the 
Bofton  Federal  Orrery.  After  alluding  to  the  mi- 
raculous paJTage  of  the  Red  fea,  he  adds,  that 

tf  By  night  your  pillar,  and  your  cloud  by  day," 
"  He  (the  Prefident)  fought  yourbattles." 

Here  is  an  attempt  to  blend  the  fervices  and  exer- 
tions of  the  American  colonies  with  the  omnifcient 
ibperintendancy  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Effrontery 
or  impiety  cannot  proceed  -much  farther.  Of  fuch 
panegyrifts,  Dr.  Edward  Young  has  obferved,  that 

**  Their  praife  degrades,  as  if  a  fool  (hould  mean, 
cc  By  fpitting  in  your  face,  to  make  it  clean !" 

For  the  fake  of  completenefs,  our  author  mould 
have  run  a  comparifon  of  Mount  Vernon  with 
Mount  Sinai,  the  Delaware  at  Trenton  and  the 
Arabian  Gulph.  Between  fuch  impious  jargon  and 
legitimate  poetry,  there  is  the  fame  diftin&ion 
as  between  the  trowel  of  a  bricklayer,  and  the  pen- 
cil of  Titian. 

About  the  fame  time,  another  piece  of  excel- 
lence, too  fingular  to  be  forgotten,  appeared  in  a 
Philadelphia  newfpaper.  Here  it  is  : 

"  ADVICE  TO  COUNTRY  POLITICIANS. 

(t  Go  weed  your  corn,  and  plow  your  land, 
"  And  by  Columbia's  intereft  (land, 

"  Caft  prejudice  a  way; 
"  To  able  heads  leave  ftate  affair*, 
'*  Give  railing  o'er  and  fay  your  prayers* 

"  For  ftores  of  corn  and  hay." 

This  is  the  firft  flanza  of  that  brilliant  production,, 
American  farmers  are  very  obligingly  advifed 
to  give  over  railing.  The  writer  muft  by  this  word 
mean  remonfirating  againft  the  treaty  of  Mr.  Jay. 
As  to  able  heads,  fivc-fixths  of  the  members  of  Co»- 


SS  HISTORY   OF   THE 

grefs  are  farmers,  anfl  hence  this  admonition  ap- 
plies to  them.  They  had  better,  as  it  feems,  go 
home  and  mind  their  ploughs.  The  next  and  con- 
cluding flanza  runs,  or  hobbles,  in  the  following 
words. 

"  With  politics  ne'er  break  your  ileep, 
"  But  ring  your  hogs,  and  (hear  your  lhcep> 

"  And  rear  your  lambs  and  calves  ; 
"  And  Wafhington  will  take  due  care, 
"  That  Britons  never  more  fhall  dare 

"  Attempt  to  make  you  Haves." 

The  felicity  of  the  rhime  in  calves  and  flccues, 
proves  that  the  auricular  accuracy  of  this  laureate 
keeps  pace  with  his  other  qualifications.  It  is  a  ver)*" 
handfome  compliment  to  the  farmers  of  the  United 
States  to  tell  them  that  their  underflandings  are  jufl 
equal  to  putting  a  ring  into  the  fnout  of  a  hog.  The 
odes  of  Horace,  and  Martial's  epigrams,  were  written 
in  the  fink  of  Roman  tyranny  ;'yet,  they  contain  no- 
thing correfpondent  with  the  abject  vulgarity  of  this 
advice.  The  piece  is,  from  firll  to  laft,  a  ftupid  in- 
fult  on  the  feelings  of  a  free  country.  This  Phila- 
delphian  bard  feems  a  formidable  rival  to  the  vi- 
laft  fycophant  that  ever  licked  up  the  fpittle  of  de£- 
potifm. 

The  people  of  America  boaft  loudly  of  their  free- 
dom,and  of  their  fuperiority,  in  this  refpeft,  to  every 
other  nation  ;  yet  the  fpirit  of  fervility  in  writing 
birth-day  verfes,  exceeds  all  bounds. 

One  of  the  gazettes  of  this  city,  after  the  birth- 
day in  February,  1795,  nac^  another  piece  of  the 
fame  fhabby  {train.  It  filled  two  entire  columns  ; 
and,  which  (hews  the  wretchednefs,  or  rather  non- 
entity of  literary  tafte,  it  was  printed,  in  at  leajl  one 
other  new/paper. 

Alluding  to  the  friends  of  democratic  focieties, 
this  poet  calls  thsmforcerers  in  their  cells.  After 


UNITED    STATES.  35 

raving  through  this  comparifon  for  a  few  impudent 
lines,  worthy  of  Webfler  and  his  Minerva,  we  arc 
told  that 

"  Already  Wamington,  like  Atlas  ftands, 
"  Alone  fupporting  empire  with  his  hands ; 
"  Alone,  the  prop  of  all  this  vaft  machine, 
<c  The  mortal  hero  of  the  immortal  fcene." 

The  genius  of  Columbia  (this  is  the  new-fangled 
rhyming  name  for  America),  then  bounces  into  the 
following  exclamation : 

"  Chaos  will  come,  when  Wafhington  expires, 

f<  Hide  Freedom's  fun,  and  quench  her  ftarry  fires. 

"  A  gift  fo  fatal,  why  (hould  I  retain  ? 

*'  Realms  fo  accurft,  why  ihould  my  power  fuftain  ? 

"  No,  let  thefe  regions  to  the  deep  be  hurl'd. 

u  Take  back,  unfathom'd  ocean,  take  your  world." 

A  charming  propofal  undoubtedly  !  that  nature 
{hall  difTolve  on  the  death  of  an  American  preli- 
dent.  There  is  reafon  to  think  that  neither  George 
the  third,  nor  any  of  his  predeceflbrs,  was  ever  fa- 
luted  with  fuch  execrable  buffoonery.  If  the  de- 
calogue had  faid,  Thouflialt  not  -write  nonjenfe,  this 
author  muft  have  been  a  difinal  {inner.  It  is  the 
happy  privilege  of  an  American,  that  he  may  prat- 
tle and  print,  in  what  way  he  pleafes,  and  'without 
any  one  to  make  him  afraid. 

Auguftus  Caefar  found  it  for  his  intereft  to  be 
bountiful  and  grateful  to  Virgil  and  Horace.  Their 
verfes,  like  flepping  ftones  acrofs  the  mire,  part- 
ly favcd  his  name  from  that  reproach,  through 
which  it  has  waded  down  to  poflerity.  The 
reputation  of  our  Prefident  requires  not  the  help 
of  poetical  crutches.  To  him  we  may  apply  what 
the  king  of  Pruilia,  in  his  memoirs,  hath  faid  of 
his  brother  Henry  :  'The  higheft  encomium  'which  'we 
tan  be/low ,  is  an  impartial  narrative  of  his  adions. 

As  a  {ketch  of  the  current  ftile,  we  fhall  notice 


4«»  HISTORY    OF    THE 

one  other  writer  of  the  clay.  Curtius  publiflbcd 
twelve  letters  in  defence  of  Jay's  treaty.  The 
points  now  to  be  invefligated,  refer  to  what  he  fays 
about  the  relative  force  of  France  and  Britain,  and 
the  violent  manner  in  which  he  {peaks  of  thofe 
who  differ  from  his  political  opinions. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  greatnefs  of  Britain,  Cur- 
tius, No.  vii.  fays,  that  her  Eafl-India  territories 
cc  yield  an  annual  revenue  of  more  than  eight  mil- 
"  lions  flerling."  Camillus,  alfo,  No.  vii.  lays 
much  weight  upon  the  mips  from  India  to  England 
in  1795,  having  cargoes  cc  computed  to  be  worth 
"  between  four  and  five  millions  flerling."  While 
an  alliance  with  that  country  is  recommended,  and 
iuch  accounts  given  of  its  wealth  and  power,  only 
a  few  words  are  needful  to  fet  the  matter  right. 
Three-fourths  of  this  revenue  t<ro  to  the  expence 
of  fupporting  the  government  of  the  country  ;  part 
is  abforbed  by  inveflments  and  commercial  charges, 
and' the  remainder  is  confumed  in  paying  the  inte- 
refl  of  the  Indian  debts  of  the  company.  By  the 
latefl  advices  received,  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1795, 
from  India,  they  were  owing,  in  that  part  of  the 
world,  feven  millions  three  hundred  thoufand 
pounds  flerling.  This  was  flated  in  the  Houfe  of 
Commons,  on  the  above  date,  by  Mr.  Dundas.  The 
company  owe  likewife  another  enormous  debt  in 
England,  a  part  of  which,  under  the  name  of  bon- 
ded, amounted  then  to  two  millions  flerling.  Thus, 
when  the  company  have  paid  the  charges  of  govern- 
ment, the  interell  of  their  debts,  and  mercantile 
expences,  they  arc,  by  feveral  millions  flerling, 
ivorfe  than  nothing.  They  have  been  often  on  the 
brink  of  bankruptcy,  and  would  have  flopt  pay- 
ment many  years  ago,  if  Parliament  had  not  lent 
,  in  advance,  large  fums  of  money*.  If  is. 

*  See  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations, 


UNITED    STATES  41 

hard  to  think  that  fuch  an  eftablifhment  can  add  to 
the  real  flrength  of  a  nation.  Camillas  and  Curti- 
us  need  not  build  much  on  that  fource  of  oppofl- 
tion  to  France*. 

*  As  the  world  in  general  appear  to  be  miftaken  on  this  head* 
the  following  ftatements,  laid  before  Parliament  by  Dundas,  are  in- 
ferred. They  are  for  two  different  years ;  and  (hew  how  little 
England  has,  in  reality,  gained  by  her  catalogue  of  Oriental  crimes. 

General Jiate  of  revenues  and  charges  in  India. 
Total  of  the  revenues  of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay, 

1793-4,  as  above  ftated,  -    £.8,294,399 

Charges  of  ditto,  (including  66,358!,  fapplies  to  Ben- 

coolen,  &c.)  .  .  .  6,181,5041 

Revenues  more  than  charges,  -  -  2,112,89^ 

Jntereft  on  debts  paid  from  this  fum,  -  -        458,045 

Surplus  revenues,  -  1,654,852 

Add — import,  fales,  and  certificates,  -  475,994 

Sums  applicable  to  inveftments,  payment  of  commercial 
charges,  &c.  (exclufive  of  20,000!.  gained  by  ifluing 
notes,  -  2,130,84$ 

Eftimates  for  1 7  94-  5 . 
Total  revenues  of  Bengal,  Madras,  and  Bombay,  cfti- 

mated  1794-5,  "  .-    L'l>W&v*l 

Total  charges,   ditto,  (including  104,632!.  fupplies  to 

Bencoolen,  &c.)  -      5)923,065 

1*867,744, 
Dedud  intereft  on  debts,  per  No.  XVI.    -        -        437*047 

Eftimated  furplus  revenue,  1*430,697 

Add  No.  XV.  Eftimated  fales  of  imports,  and  a- 

mount  of  certificates,  -      380,669 

Amount  eftimated  to  be  applicable  to  inveftments,  pay- 
ment of  commercial  charges,  &c.  &c.  1,81 1,366 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1791,  Charles  Fox  faid,  in  the  Houfe  of 
Commons,  that  the  company's  debts  amounted  to  fixteen  millions 
eight  hundred  thoufand  pounds  fterling.  Thefe  details  agree  in 
fubftance  with  the  fammary  in  the  text,  Much  noife.  was  made  botk 

€ 


42  HISTORY  OF   THE 

When  Curtius  fpeaks  of  Europe,  he  flumbles  In 
the  fame  way  as  Camillas.  "  Great  Britain,  though 
"  jier  army  was  deftroyed  in  the  Netherlands,  re- 
C£  tains  all  her  activity  and  refources*.  Govern- 
"  ment  has  not  been  compelled  to  diflrefs  her  trade 
cc  to  man  her  navy."  She  never  manned  twenty 
fail  of  the  line,  at  one  time,  without  diftrefting 
trade.  A  general  prefs  is  the  fure  confequence  of 
fuch  an  equipment.  The  fear  city  of  feamen  has 
been  very  great.  Again.  cc  Her  debt  has  indeed 
•"  been  augmented  ;  but  ftill  immenfe  fums  of  mo- 
cc  ney  (of  paper  he  fhould  have  faid)  are  offered, 
c.c  and  the  only  queftion  with  government  is,  whofe 
u  money  fnall  be  received  on  loan."  That  is  on 
account  of  the  extravagant  premiums.  As  for 
money,  all  the  gold  and  (liver  coin  in  England 
would  not  pay  above  one-nineteenth  part  of  the 
debts  that  (he  has  contracted.  If  the  ifland  could  be 
divided  into  three  equal  ihares,  it  would  require  one 
of  them  to  fatisfy  the  public  creditors.  <c  Britain, 
a  at  this  moment,  maintains  as  commanding  an  at- 
"  titude  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  as  at  any 
i(>  former  period."  Only  two  pages  before,  Curtius 
had  faid,  "  that  her  land  forces  were  defeated  and 
"  cut  to  pieces,  the  laft  campaign  (1794),  *s  unde- 

for  and  againft  Jay's  conducl  on  account  of  the  ftipulations  refpec- 
ting  the  Eaft  India  trade.  When  it  is  obferved  how  little  even  the 
Eaft  India  company  can  make,  who  are  mafters  of  India  itfelf,  a  fuf- 
picion  may  be  excited,  that  this  branch  of  commerce  was  not  worth 
much  contention.  American  mips  can  fail  to  China,  without  leave 
of  England ;  and  that  is  the  moil  important  branch  of  the  Oriental 
market. 

*  To  fill  up  thefe  armies,  the  country  was,  in  fome  places,  half 
depopulated.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1795?  Mr.  Sheridan  inform- 
ed the  Houfe  of  Commons,  that  one  magiftrate  had  attefted  twen- 
ty-one thoufand  recruits.  About  the  fame  time  it  was  Hated  in 
the  houfe,  that  Manchefter,  fince  the  war  began,  had  lofc  twelve 
thoufand  people. 


UNITED    STATES.  43 

<c  niable  ;  and  there  is  no  queftion  that  any  com- 
"  bat  by  land  would  be  decided  in  favour  of 
"  France."  When  England  won  the  battles  of 
Blenheim,  Quebec,  and  Minden,  (he  was  equally 
fuperior  at  Jea.  Curtius  has  no  -ground  to  compare 
the  prefent  attitude  to  that  of  any  former  period. 
With  the  fame  judgment  this  writer  rejects  all- 
danger  of  a  Britifh  revolution.  If  England  cannot 
be  happy  enough  to  make  a  peace,  (lie  will  be  ex- 
cluded from  every  port  in  Europe,  as  fhe  is  at  pre- 
fent from  two-thirds  of  them  ;  and  then  her  com- 
merce and  her  power  muft  decline  together.  It  is 
worth  while  to  confider  the  effects  of  this  turn  in 
her  affairs  on  the  fituation  of  America.  One  of  the 
confequences  muft  be  the  explofion  of  her  paper 
money.  The  quantity  in  circulation  may  be  in 
England  about  three  t^mes,  and  in  Scotland  fixty 
times  greater  than  that  of  gold  and  filver.  This 
is  a  rough  guefs.  Every  year  of  war  augments 
the  quantity  of  paper.  The  firft  effects  of  a  na- 
tional bankruptcy  would  be  an  utter  definition  of 
credit.  Currency  would  again  be  reftrifted  to 
the  precious  metals  ;  and  they  would  increafe  to 
three,  four,  or  five  times  the  value  that  they  now 
bear.  The  filver  fix-pence,  which,  in  London, 
would  not,  lafl  winter,  buy  a  pound  of  beef,  will 
then  purchafe  three,  four,  or  five  pounds,  as  was 
the  cafe  fifty  or  an  hundred  years  ago.  Hence  it 
follows,  that  the  manufactures  of  Britain  will  fall 
furprifingly  in  their  prices,  becaufe  the  fame  quan- 
tity of  labour  that  formerly  was  worth  half  a  gui- 
nea, will  then  probably  be  offered  for  three  or  four 
Shillings,  or  lefs.  Another  caufe  muft  cheapen  Bri- 
tifh exports.  The  country  being  rid  of  public 
debt,  will,  of  courfe,  cart  off  a  great  proportion  of 
her  taxes  ;  for,  at  this  time,  including  the  expence 
of  the  collection  of  revenue  t,o  pay  its  intereft,  the 


44  HISTORY    OF   THE 

debt  requires  about  fixteen  millions  derling  per  an- 
num. Even  now  the  manufactures  of  the  United 
States  cannot,  in  many  cafes,  bear  a  competition  in 
point  of  cheapnefs  with  thofe  of  Britain.  But  a 
fudden  fall  of  one-half  of  the  former  rate,  or  perhaps 
a  ilill  greater  reduction  mud  put  an  end  to  them, 
unlefs  their  cod  can  alfo  be  ledened-  The  price  of 
fo  many  commodities  having  funk  fo  fail,  they  will, 
of  courfe,  drag  all  other  kinds  of  property  after 
them,  till  matters  (hall  be  reftored  to  their  com- 
mon level,  becaufe  the  fituation  would  be  too  forced 
and  unnatural  for  any  length  of  endurance.  The 
price  of  flour,  for  example,  could  not  long  conti- 
nue at  eight  or  ten  dollars,  in  America,  while  En- 
gland railed  it  for  two  or  three.  The  value  of 
lands,  houfes,  and  perional  labour  finking  with  fuch 
rapidity  would  produce  numerous  failures,  and  the 
quantity  of  money  afloat  being  more  than  was  wan- 
ted, the  precious  metals,  as  on  firnilar  occafions, 
would  drive  paper  out  of  the  market.  This  muft, 
In  fome  degree,  give  a  check  to  banking.  Another 
clafs  of  people  would  fufter  eiTentially,  and  that  is 
the  holders  of  public  flock.  From  its  nature  the 
fall  would  be  more  feverely  felt  in  this  than  mod 
other  property.  Land,  when  equally  ploughed, will 
yield  as  large  a  crop  as  now,  whatever  might  be 
the  want  of  money.  The  fcarcity  of  houfes  in 
the  fea  port  towns,  would  prevent  them  from  flan- 
ding  empty.  Good  tradefmen  are  always  need- 
ful and  mud  be  paid  a  fubfidence.  But  dock  be- 
ing entirely  unproductive  of  itfelf,  unlefs  as  to  the 
Intered  paid  by  the  public,  its  decline  in  price 
v/ould  operate  as  a  real  lofs,  fince  it  is  only  worth 
what  it  can  bring  in  the  market. 

Thus  the  ruin  of  the  Britifh  fydem  of  funds, 
and  paper  money,  would  run  the  hazard  of  fha- 
Idng  the  fame  lyderns  in  the  United  States,  This 


UNITED    STATES.  45- 

appears  to  be  the   reafon  why  perfons  conne&ed 
with   them  have  fuch    a  violent    prepofTeffion   for 
Britifli   fuccefs,    and  fo  flrong  an  averfion   to  the 
afcendancy  of  France.     The  definition  of  public 
credit  in  that  country,  foon   after  the    revolution 
began,  and  the  mixture  of  defpotifm  and   anarchy 
which  have  iince  prevailed,  infpired  every  holder 
of  ilocks   with   horror.     A    confiderable    number 
of  thefe    public  creditors    were  from    the  eaftern 
ftates,  and  but  few  from  the  fouthern.     The  whole 
influence   of  the  fifcal  corps,  was  directed  againft 
the   French   revolution.     As   a   requifite  cbunter- 
poife,    the   party  wifhed  to  cafl  America  into  the 
arms  of  Britain.     The  bankers   and  flock-holders 
were  joined  by  two  other  clafTes.  The  one  of  thefe 
confiitedof  Britifli  tories,  who  had  been  permitted 
to  continue  here  in  the  war,  or  who  had  returned 
fince  the  end  of  it.   Another  order  of  men,  in  whom 
the  motives   of  the  former  were    often   blended, 
Lad  frequent  occafion  for  the  difcounting  of  bills, 
to  fupport  their  credit.     Within  a  few  years,  fince 
banks  became  numerous,  there  has   arifen  an  ex- 
treme fpirit  of  mercantile  fpeculation,  which  could 
only  expand  its  flight  on  the  wings  of  paper-money. 
All  thefe  forts  of  people,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
and  all  on  whom  they  had   influence,  joined  in  re- 
probating the  French  revolution.     Alexander  Ha- 
milton has  always  been   confidered  as  the  leader  of 
this  party.     His   official  powers  gave  him  a  very 
conOderable  fway  in  the  management  of  the  public 
funds,  and  the  bank  of  the  United   States.     Under 
him,  the  party  have  atfred,  or  are  thought  to  have 
afted  with  fyftem    and   fpirit.     But    while    they 
were  thus  loudly  declaiming,  andoften  with  juftice, 
againft  the    fhocking    barbarities    perpetrated    in 
France,  many  of  them  have  forfeited  their  preten- 
iions  to  purity,  by  promoting,  to  the  utmofl  of  their 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE 

ikill,  a  civil  war  among  the  United  States  themfelves, 
a:xl  like  wife  a  quarrel  with  the  republic.  Their 
defigns  have  been  gradually  developed  by  the  courfe 
of  events  ;  and  it  has  at  length  been  fairly  confef- 
fed,  both  by  their  words  and  actions,  that  they  are 
willing  to  go  to  war  writh  France.  They  dread 
her  example  as  contagious  for  the  destruction  of 
their  financial  fabric, which  they  constantly  mention 
not  by  its  proper  name,  but  as  the  conjlitufion. 

Having  premifed  thele  particulars,  we  fhall  now 

quote  fome  of  the  exprellions  that  Curtius    adopts 

in  his  twelfth   letter.    cc  There  is  a  confederation 

cc  of  characters,  from    New-Hampfhire    to  Geor- 

4  gia,  arrayed  in  oppofition,  either  to   the   confti- 

c  tution  of  the  United  States,  to  its  administration, 

4C  or  to  particular  men   in  office.     The  oppofition 

LC  of  the  principal  men  in  this  confederacy  can    be 

c  traced  to   fome  known   cauies,   originally  of   a 

c  perfbn a  1  nature.     Difappointment  in  application 

1  for  fome  office,  or  the  failure  of  fome  favourite 

c  fcheme  in  their  political  fyftem,  has   converted 

c  many  of  the   friends  of  the  late  revolution  into 

c  determined  oppofers  of  the  general  fyflem  of  the 

cc  prefent  adminiftration." 

;  This  charge  is  daily  repeated  in  an  infinity  of  dif- 
ferent Shapes.  No  facts  are  ipecified  by  Curtius, 
except  an  indhtinct  reference  to  Genet.  "  The  con- 
LC  duct  of  this  ambafTador  is  entirely  unexampled 
"  in  thehiftory  of  civilized  nations*."  He  was  re- 
ceived with  tumultuous  hofpitality,  and  childifli  ex- 
ultation. But  when  it  was  difcovered  that  he  wanted 
to  plunge  the  nation  into  a  war  with  Britain,  this 
envoy  inilantly  funk  into  neglect.  Curtius  fays, 
"  that  his  views  were  counteracted  by  thePrefident, 
tc  feconded  by  the  northern  flates."  One  would 

*  Carey's  edition  of  Gutbrie's  Geography,  vol.  ii.  p.  294. 


UNITED  STATES.  47 

imagine  that  the  militia  of  New-England  had  .been 
ordered  to  march,  that  the  legiflatures  had  taken 
fo me  important  ftep,  or  at  leaf!  that  their  members 
in  Congrefs  had  introduced  fome  motion  to  the 
houfe,  which  led  the  way  for  recalling  the  French 
minifter.  Not  one  of  thefe  circumflances  ever 
happened.  The  impertinence  and  indifcretion  of 
Genet  were,  in  a  few  months,  vifible  to  all  men  of 
fenfe.  His  importance  fhrunk  immediately  to  no- 
thing. Astojffcoriding)  it  was  manifefted  in  no  way 
by  New-England,  unlefs  fcurrilous  newlpaper  para- 
graphs deferve  that  name.  Even  this  commodity  was 
as  plentifully  bellowed  at  New-York  and  Philadel- 
phia, as  at  Bofton.  The  reign  of  Genet  was  very 
fhort.  He  arrived  in  this  city  on  the  lyth  of  May, 
1793,  and  his  recall  was  folicited  by  the  American 
Secretary  of  State  in  a  letter  dated  the  i6th  of  Au- 
guft  following.  This  letter,  though  different  in- 
deed from  the  ftile  of  Timothy  Pickering's  epiftle 
to  Pinckney,was  as  (harp  as  decorum  wolild  permit. 
The  one  haggles  like  a  rufty  knife.  The  other 
cuts  like  a  razor.  The  next  news  from  France 
was,  that,  if  Genet  had  returned  home,  Robeipierre 
would  have  made  him  lookout  at  the  little  national 
window.  Even  the  letter  defiring  his  recall  was 
not  fo  much  as  wrote  by  a  native  of  New-En  gland, 
though  Henry  Knox,  as  Secretary  at  War,  was  then 
a  member  of  the  American  cabinet.  Neither  did 
Alexander  Hamilton,  though  alfo  in  office,  write 
any  part  of  it  ;  for  the  difpatch  has  none  of  his 
entangled  periods.  It  was  drawn  by  Thomas  Jef- 
ferfon  of  Virginia.  The  ftory  of  the  Prefident 
be'mgjeconded  by  the  northern  ftates  \s,  therefore, 
an  entirefalfehood. 

The  hiftory  of  Genet  has  been  thus  examined, 
becaufe  it  is  the  only  fact  to  which  Curtius  refers. 
We  now  go  back  to  his  quotation,  and  (hall  begin 


48  HISTORY   OF   THE 

with  what  he  calls  a  confederation  of  characters  ar~ 
rayedagainftthe  conftitution,  Crr. 

The  moil  eminent  perfonage  of  the  party  accu- 
fed  is  Thomas  Jefferfon,  the  fmgle  man  who  aflifted 
the  Prefident  in  driving  Genet  out  of  office.  But 
if*  the  democrats,  as,  for  the  fake  of  diftinction,  we 
muft  call  them,  were  fo  violently  attached  to  Ge- 
net, they  muft  have  held  his  antagonift  Jefferibn  in 
the  utmofl  abhorence.  Yet  this  is  fo  far  from  be- 
>ing  the  cafe,  that,  at  the  diftance  of  four  years,  their 
reipect  and  friendfhip  are  unabated.  Thus,  as  to 
Genet,  the  charge  againft  the  great  body  of  the 
democrats  involves  a  grofs  contradiction.  Whe- 
ther a  few  individuals  do  ftill  admire  what  he 
did,  cannot  be  worth  enquiring.  If  he  was  often 
in  the  wrong,  he  was  fometimes  in  the  right. 
The  wretched  attack  made  upon  him  by  John  Jay 
and  Rufus  King  was  only  fit  for  two  old  women  in  a 
chimney  corner.  It  difgraced  the  national  charac- 
ter of  America,  by  (hewing  what  weak  men  had 
been  elected  as  a  chief  juftice  and  afenator. 

Curtius  {peaks  of  the  principal  men  in  this  confede- 
racy-) and  their  difappointment  in  application  for  fome 
office.  Neither  can  this  apply  to  Jefferfon;  He 
had  been  ambaffador  to  France.  He  was  then  Se- 
cretary of  State.  Little  more  was  to  be  had.  Some- 
time after  he  refigned  his  office.  The  refignation 
was  voluntary.  This  appears  from  the  choice  of  a 
fuccefFor  to  him.  Randolph  was  of  the  fame  party 
and  principles  ;  which  proves  that  the  Prefident 
only  chofe  him  becaufe  Jefferfon  would  no  longer 
keep  the  office. 

As  to  the  failure  of  fome  favourite  fcheme  in  their 
political  Jyftem,  of  this  alfo  Mr.  Jefferfon  ftands 
clear.  His  retirement  was  heard  of  with  general 
regret.  Nay,  fo  much  does  he  poffefs  the  confi- 
dence of  every  ftate  in  the  union,  that  Mr.  Adams 


UNITED    STATES.  49 

was  perhaps  the  only  man  on  the  continent  who 
could  have  had  a  tolerable  chance  aguinft  hi'm  for 
the  prelidency.  It  is  iingular  that  the  principal  per- 
ibn  of  a  confederacy  againrt  government  fhould 
pofTefs  the  efteem  even  of  its  friends. 

We  muft  enquire  among  the  reprefentatives  in 
Congrcfs  for  the  fecond  leader  of  the  confederation 
of  characters.  This  is  James  Madifon,  efq.  of  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  Vans  Murray  faid,  fome  years  ago,  in 
Congrefs,  that  he  might  be  called  the  father  of  the 
prefent  constitution.  It  would  be  flrange  if  he  was  al- 
ready impatient  to  ftrangle  his  own  offspring.  Of  the 
private  character  of  the  man  it  isneedlefs  tofpeak, 
for  the  flock-holding  newfpapers  confine  them- 
ielves to  an  incomprehendble  jargon  about  conipi- 
racies.  ,  He  certainly  had  no  hand  in  promoting  the 
popularity  of  citizen  Genet.  He  was  in  Virginia 
during  the  period  of  the  citizen's  importance.  It 
is  doubtful  if  they  were  ever  in  the  fame  room  toge- 
ther. The.  clafiical  elegance,  and  logical  acute- 
nefs  of  Madifon  bear  the  fame  refemblance  to  the 
icampering  fuftian  of  Genet  which  Madeira  has  to 
ditch-water.  It  is  impoffible  that  two  perfons  fo 
contrafted  in  every  thing  intellectual  could  have 
agreed,  for  a  (ingle  day,  in  any  confederation.  Be- 
fides,  Mr.  Madifon  is  in  clofe  friendfliip  with  Mr. 
JefFerfon,  who  put  an  end  to  the  citizen.  D  if  ap- 
pointment in  application  for  jbme  office  cannot 
be  imputed  to  this  gentleman,  unl'efs  the  office  can 
be  named  which  he  was  clifappointed  of  obtain- 
ing. Very  few  places  in  the  gift  of  the  Prefident 
would  have  been  a  temptation.  Mr.  Jefferfon  did 
not,  as  Secretary  of  State,  fave  money.  By  abfence 
from  his  eilate,  he  very  likely  loft  as  much  as  he 
received  for  refiding  in  Philadelphia.  If  Mr.  Madi- 
fon  had  undertaken  an  ofEce  in  this  city  worth  two 
thoufand  dollars  a  year,  it  would  have  becu  of  no> 

H 


50  HISTORY   OF   THE 

pecuniary  advantage  to  him,  while  his  plantation 
was  lying  half  wafted  for  want  of  his  prefence. 
But  none  of  the  federal  hacks  has  ever  pretended 
that  Mr.  Madifon  met  with  a  repulfe  in  felicita- 
tion. They  fay  that  he  has  been  in  the  pay  of  France. 
Yet  he  j uft  now  defpitefully  gives  up  his  feat  in  Con- 
grefs,  thus  robbing  the  accufation  of  the  laft  rag 
which  covered  its  nakednefs.  He  never  had  a  cent 
from  the  government  of  this  country,  excepting 
his  fix  dollars  per  day.  As  to  favourite  fehemes, 
Mr.  Madifon,  at  leaft  for  the  laft  four  years,  has 
been  as  often  in  a  majority  as  out  of  it. 

Thus  we  have  got  over  the  firft  and  fecond  heads 
of  the  confederation.  The  third  in  order  is  Wil- 
liam B.  Giles,  another  Virginian.  Almoft  all 
which  has  been  faid  of  Mr.  Madifon .  fuits  him. 
He  never  applied  for  any  office.  Perhaps  the  execu- 
tive has  not  one  to  beftow.  that,  in  a  pecuniary 
light,  would  deferve  his  acceptance.  He  has  an 
independent  fortune.  He  is  a  lawyer  of  eminence. 
He  could  make  a  handfome  income  by  his  pro- 
ieffion,  if  he  chofe  to  flay  at  home,  and  mind  that 
only.  He  could  live  on  his  own  farm  in  Virginia  for 
a  tenth  part  of  the  money  which  he  muft  fpend  in 
attending  Congrefs.  To  fuch  a  man  fix  dollars 
a  day,  or  any  place  that  the  executive-  could  give 
him,  is  not  an  objeft  ;  and  nothing  but  fheer  igno- 
rance can  excufe  a  party  writer  for  holding  fuch 
language  about  him. 

If  we  look  over  the  other  members  who  have 
often  voted  in  oppofition  to  executive  oracles, 
the  fame  obfervations  as  to  pcrfonal  indepen- 
dence apply  to  perhaps  every  one  of  them.  For 
inftance,  Gabriel  Chriftie  is  a  merchant  in  Havre 
de  Grace,  a  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sufquchan- 
nah.  If  he  wants  to  recommence  planter,  he  has 
*  large  farm  of  his  own  a  few  miles  up  the  river> 


UNITED   STATES.  5>1 

in  one  of  the  moft  healthy  and  defirable  fpots  in 
Maryland.  Such  a  man  could  gain  nothing  by 
confufion,  nor  could  the  executive  offer  him 
almoft  any  poft  poffefling  a  lucrative  tempta- 
tion. An  office  in  Philadelphia,  or  any  where  out 
of  his  own  country,  with  a  falary  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year  would  be  as  a  feather.  The 
cafe  is  fhnilar  with  MefTrs.  Baldwin,  Blount, 
Heath,  Page,  Parker,  New,  Nicholas,  Macon, 
McDowell,  Carnes,  Venable,  Prefton,  and  others » 
They  have  either  independent  property,  or  lucra- 
tive profeffions,  or  both.  They  could  gain  nothing 
by  difturbing  government.  They  never  made  the 
fmailefl  attempt  of  the  kind  ;  nor  has  any  of  the 
fcribblers,  who  abufed  them  in  wholefale,  ever 
pretended  to  fpecify  a  fmgle  fact,  and  much  lefs 
to  bring  evidence  of  a  fmgle  fact,  that  looked  like 
a  confederacy  againft  government.  Such  malici- 
ous nonfenfe  may  do  very  well  for  a  Connecticut 
tavern,  a  Kennebeck  Journal,  or  a  town  meeting  of 
Stockbridge,  when  our  patriotic  citizens  are  toa£- 
ting  John  Jay  and  the  papers  I  It  may  fuit  Samuel 
Dexter  in  a  circle  at  the  dancing  fchool,  or  Daniel 
Buck  in  an  addrefs  to  fome  mob,  who  are  ring- 
ing the  town  bells  for  joy  at  his  return  to  Vermont. 
After  the  words  Jeconded  by  the  northern  Jlates^ 
Curtius  proceeds  thus.  "  But  the  party  which  ori- 
"  ginally  rallied  under  that  man,  (Genet)  ftill  ex- 
c  ifls,  and  forms  a  league  co-extenfive  with  the 
'  United  States,  connected  in  all  its  parts,  and  act- 
c  ing  by  a  fmgle  impulfe."  Dr.  Swift,  fpeaking  of 
Gulliver's  Travels,  fays,  that  they  contained  a 
lie  at  every  jecond  word.  If  a  fmgle  word  could 
convey  an  untruth,  Curtius  would  be  an  unrival- 
led mafter  in  that  fort  of  brevity.  The  party,  fuch 
as  it  is,  exifted  in  all  its  vigour,  for  feveral  years 
before  Genet  landed  on  this  continent,  *  fact  known 


5*2  HISTORY    OF    THE 

to  every  perfon  who  has  croffed  even  the  threfhold 
of  American  hifcory.  As  for  the  fingle  impulfe,  if 
the  confederates  were  always  to  behave  to  each  other 
with  common  civility,  there  might  be  fbme  poill- 
bility  of  the  charge  being  true.  But  they  are  con- 
llantly  differing  among  theinfelves  en  ferious  topics. 
For  example,  Colonel  Parker,  on  the  loth  of  Fe- 
bruary, 1797,  made  an  able  and  earned  fpeech  in 
defence  of  the  three  frigates.  lie  was  fupported, 
,  by  John  Swanwick,who,  if  cart- 
loads of  flander  can  bellow  diftinction,  fhines  like 
a  ftar  of  the  iirfl  magnitude  in  the  democratical  zo- 
diac. They  were  oppoicd  by  three  of  their  con- 
federates, Melfrs.  Chriftie,  Nicholas,  and  Giles. 
The  poor  frigates  were  kicked  about,  as  if  they 
had  been  fo  many  warning  tubs.  Nicholas  wifhed 
them  to  rot  on  the  flocks,  as  an  inflrudtive  monu- 
ment of  national  folly.  Chriflie  did  not  care  if 
they  were  reduced  to  aflies.  Giles  declared  that 
he  always  had  oppofed,  and  always  mould  oppofe 
them,  in  every  ilage,  and  every  fhape.  This  is 
only  one  in  ft  a  nee  out  of  fifty  or  an  hundred,  that 
occur  in  every  {effioii,  where  the  gentlemen  ftigma- 
tized  as  acting  by  a  {ingle  impulfe,  do  mew  very 
plainly  that  they  value  not  one  farthing  the  opinions 
of  each  other  ;  but  fpeak  immediately  from  their  own 
caprice  or  conviction.  We  go  back  to  Curtius. 

Ci  Thus,  in  the  infancy  of  our  empire,  the  bane  of 
£  all  republics,  is  already  diffufed  over  our  coun- 
4C  try,  andpotfons  .the  whole  body  politic  !"  [It  is  natu- 
ral that  weak  or  ignorant  people  fhould  find  their 
heads  half  cracked,  while  they  hear  of  fuch  terri- 
ble phantoms.]  cc  Faction  is  a  clifeafe,  which  haspro- 
c  ved  fatal  to  all  popular  governments  ;  but  in  Ame- 
rica  it  has  alfumed  an  afpect  more  formidable  tliar^ 
many  other  country  "  [He  aflignsfome  foolifli  rea- 
sj  and  then  adds  :]'u  But  in  America,  faifticn 


>c 


(C 


cc 


UNITED    STATES.  5-3 

c  has  alTurned  confiftency  andfyflem.     It  is  a  con- 
j piracy  perpetually  exifting,  an  oppofition  organi- 
zed  and  disciplined,  for  the  purpofes  of  defeat - 
ing  the  regular  exercife  of  the  conftitutional  po\v- 
cc  ers  of  our  government,  whenever  a  meafnre  does 
cc  not  pleafe  ihcjecret  leadens  of  the  confederacy." 
Curtius  ought  to  name  thofe  fecret  leaders,  and 
to  give  fome  traits  of  the  progrefs  of  this  ccnfpiracy. 
In   his  labyrinthian  ftile,  it   is   impoiuble  ever  to 
take  a  fa  ft  hold.  He  is  one  of  the  mod  decent  wri- 
ters of  the  federal  party  ;  and  this  is  the  univerial 
way  in  which  they  make  an  afTault  on  private  cha- 
racters. In  thelaft  four  years  of  chiming,  they  have 
hardly  advanced  four  intelligible  arTertions.  Their 
charges  glide  from  the  grafp   of  ftraight  inquiry, 
like  the  made  of  Anchifes  from  the  embrace  of  his 
Ion.     The  Torn  Thumb  tale   about  Fauchct  bri- 
bing Randolph,  has  been  fafely  conduced  to  its 
grave  in   the  American  Annual  Regifter.     As  for 
•the  weftern  infiirrec"tion,  Findley,  in  his  hiftory  of 
it,  has  mewed  that  Gailatin  was  fo  far  from  being 
an  infurgent,  that  he  had  a  principal  fhare  in  pre- 
venting mifchief.     It  is  deplorable  that  a  party  fo 
pregnant   with  charges   mould   be  fo    unfortunate 
in  their  few  attempts  at  fpecification.   "  Already," 
fays  Curtius,    cc  are   the    heads  of    our  govern- 
cc  ment  denounced  as  traitors  ;  already  is  our  coun- 
c  try  threatened  -with  civil  war. — If  the  oppofers 
c  of  the  treaty  can  poffibly  embroil  our  country  in 
"  civil  war,  it  will  be  efFefted." 

There  is  a  confldcrable  famenefs  in  the  dialect 
of  the  Hamiitonians.  Their  conftant  cry  is  the  dan- 
ger of  a  civil  war  ;  and  the  ufual  menace  a  disjunc- 
tion of  the  eaitern  from  the  fouthern  ftates.  This 
railing  comes  exclufively  from  the  eaftern  and  fome 
parts  of  the  middle  ftates.  To  the  fouth  of  Penti- 
iylvania  rao  newfpaper  embattles  itfelf  againfl  the 


54  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Yankees.  Of  the  three  daily  prints  in  Baltimore, 
not  one  is  attached  clofely  to  either  party.  A  ma- 
jority of  the  inhabitants  voted  for  Jay's  bantling. 
In  the  whole  country,  down  to  Georgia,  you  meet 
with  no  gazette  lying  and  raving  in  theftile  of  Cur- 
tius  and  the  Columbian  Centinel.  The  Virginians 
encourage  no  newfpr inter  to  balance  accounts  in 
black  bail  with  Webfter  ;  or  to  proclaim  the  peo- 
ple of  New-England  bankrupts,  fwindlers,  confpi- 
rators,  and  traitors.  They  are  not,  with  the  mono- 
tony of  a  magpie,  eternally  croaking  about  the 
danger  of  rebellion.  Their  fouls  do  not  fit  fo 
much  upon  thorns  as  thole  of  their  eaftern  fellow 
citizens.  There. appears  to  be  lefs  vinegar  in  their 
competition.  At  leaf}:,  by  judging  from  the  ftate 
of  the  prefs,  in  thefe  oppofite  quarters  of  the  union, 
a  byfbmder  would  make  that  inference.  Envy 
may  have  ibme  fiiare  in  this  barking.  The  popu- 
lation of  MafTachufettsand  Connecticut  isftationary, 
and  their  territory  is  but  fmall.  From  New- York, 
inclufive,  all  the  ilates  to  the  fouthward,  excepting 
three*,  have  an  immenfe  extent  of  new  land,  which 
holds  out  the  certain  profpecl  of  augmented  wealth, 
population,  and  importance. 

The  relative  proportion  of  exports  from  the  mid- 
dle and  fouthern  ftates  has  augmented  greatly,  and 
muft  continue  to  do  fo.  Bofton,  formerly  as  popu- 
lous as  Philadelphia,  hath  flill  but  about  twenty 
thoufand  inhabitants,  while  thofe  of  its  late  rival 
have  augmented  to  fixty  thoufand.  New- York, 
which  formerly  was  much  its  inferior,  hath  fifty 
thoufand.  But  Baltimore  is  the  mofl  provoking  in- 
flance  of  recent  afcendency.  This  town  arofe,  but 
as  yeflerday,  from  a  marfh  ;  and  rivals  or  eclipfes 
the  wealth  and  population  of  the  metropolis  of  New- 

*  Ne\v-Jsrfey,  Delaware,  and  Man  land. 


UNITED  STATES.  57 

England.  Virginia  is  twelve  times  larger  than 
Maichufetts  ;  and  has  already  double  her  popula- 
tion. So  great  a  difference  of  numbers  did  not  ex- 
ift  in  the  cenius,  of  1775,  and  it  is  hourly  augmen- 
ting. 

"  Like  ancient  ladies  when  refus'd  a  kifs," 

Thefe  two  New-England  dates    are  not  perhaps 
pleafed  to  forefee  the  decline  of  their  oonfequence. 
Whatever  may  be  the  caufe,  the  rancour  of  many 
of  their  citizens  againfb  the  fouthern  dates  appears 
to  be  of  the  bittereft  kind.     Judging  from  the  Co- 
lumbian Centinel,  a  foreigner  might  be  led  to  believe 
that  the  latter  have  fubicribed  a  folemn  league  of 
revolution  ;  that  troops  have  been  raifed,  and  ma- 
gazines   formed  ;  that  half  our  citizens  are  prepa- 
ring to  butcher  the  reft  ;  that  Madifon  is  a  fecond 
Cataline,  and  Giles  a  Csefar  Borgia.     A  confidera- 
ble  minority  in  New-England  agree  with  the  poli- 
tics of  Virginia.     In    May,  1794,   t^ie  inhabitants 
of  Bofton  held  a  very  numerous  town-meeting,  at 
which,  by  a  great  majority,  they  agreed  to  recom- 
mend to  Gongrefs   to  prolong   the  embargo.     An 
additional  fixty  days  of  famine  would  have  put  an 
effectual  end  to  Britifli  piracies  in  the  Weft  Indies  ; 
and  would  likewife  have  been  of  more  fervice  to 
France  than  an  aid  of  ten  thoufand  land  forces,  and 
ten  (hips  of  the  line.  A  copy  oftheBoilon  refolutions, 
ligned  by  the  town  clerk,  was  tranfmitted  not  on- 
ly to  their  reprefentative,  Dr.  Ames,  but  a  fecond 
alfo,  fuperfcribed  to  Mr.  Madifon,  Colonel  Parker, 
and  Mr.  Giles.     This  told  pretty  plainly  that  they 
trufted  the  three  latter  gentlemen  farther,  in  that 
inftance,  than  their  own  reprefentative.     Perhaps, 
however,  this  town-meeting  confided  likewife  of 
confpirators .  Avesumus  generis  facile  congregantur. 
The  foolifh  word  jacobin  is  rung  in  endleis  changes; 


56  HISTORY    OF    THE 

le  Curtius  ^gravely    declares    that    ;u    private 
4"  allbciations  are  formed  and  extending  their  inftu- 


•  cnce  over  our  country/'     All  this  is  the  vilefl 
t  r  a  f  1 1  i  m  a  p;i  n  a  bl  e . 

The  calumny  of  the  federal  patriots  is  not  confined 
to  the  fouthern  ftates.  The  whifky  riots  in  the  we£- 
tern  counties  of  Pennsylvania   have  fupplied  them 
:  a  happy  fund  for  declamation.     Of  their  la- 
bours in  this  line,  accept  the   following  fpecimen. 
In  a  Philadelphia  newipaper  of  the  8th  of  March, 
1796,  there  is  inferted  an  extract  of  a  letter,  dated 
:jurgh,  the  2510  of  February  preceding,  which 
contains    unexpected   intelligence.       The    extract 
-.ids  to  one  third  of  a   column,  and  reprefents 
the    weitern    counties,    as   having   relapfcd  into  a 
irate  of  anarchy.      "  It  is  generally  believed/'  fays 
the  writer,  u  that  near  half  the  men  in  tllis  country 
11  have  crofjed  the  river  to  take  poileffion  of  what- 
L  ever   land  they  could  get.      ¥his\ town  is  almoft 
!  Some  large  parties  are  gone  with  an  in- 
t£  tent  to  clear  all  before  them,  where  the  land  is 
:>:!.  Reports  from  the  woods  fay,  that  a  flrong 
c*  party  coming  to'  a  houfc,  they  turn  out  the  weak- 
'c  cr,  and  a  flronger  coming  on  turn  them  out,  fo 
4t  that  ibinehoufes  change  their  owners  two  or  three 
£C  times  a  day."  This  makes  about  a  fourth  part  of 
the  extract,  which  is  all  exactly  in  the  fame  ftyle, 
though  (bine  pafTages  foar  quite  above  comprehen- 
ilon. 

,  farther  intelligence  about  this  tumult  reach- 

;  till  the    2 8th  of  March  brought  forth  a  fe- 

concl  extract   of  an  epiftle  from  Pittfburgh,  dated 

the    1 2th   of  Pvlarch.     It  corroborates  the  former 

,    affirming    that    "  the    poor  people   are  pflj- 

'•Iswkany  in  legions  ivith  their  families  to 

:Idc,    and"  eftablifh  actual   fettlements/'   &c. 

letters,  but  the  fecond  in  particular,  have  a 


UNITED    STATES.  >jj 

multiplicity  of  ranting  bombaftical  phrafes,  which 
would  be  apt  to  make  their  veracity  fufpefted. 

Both  of  them  Ipeak  much  about  a  Mr. ,  who 

is  doing  fome  inexplicable  wonders.  Both  contain  a 
profufionof  fnch  egregious  nonfenfe,  and  malicious 
falfehood,  that  they  are  in  themfelves,  an  hundred- 
and  fifty  degrees  beneath  animadverfion. 

No  farther  notice  was  taken  in  any  newfpaper 
about  this  infurrecUon.  Hence  it  is  natural  to  in- 
fer that  both  pieces  came  from  the  fame  pen,  and 
that  both  were  written  with  one  rafcaily  view,  that 
of  ipreading  a  falfe  alarm  among  the  people  in  the 
Atlantic  regions  of  the  union.  If  fuch  revolution- 
ary wonders  were  going  forward,  beyond  the  moun- 
tains, it  was  flrange  that  nobody  fhould  hear  about 
them  but  one  correfpondent.  It  is  the  bufincfs  of 
every  good  citizen,  to  pluck  up  by  the  roots  fuch 
incendiary  ilander.  There  feems  a  double  barba- 
rity in  ripping  open  the  fear  of  a  wound  that  is  but 
juft  fkinned  over. 

The  bad  eifecl:  of  fuch  reports  was  very  well 
defcribed  in  Congrefs  by  Mr,  Baldwin.  Oil  the  ift 
of  December,  1794,  ^s  gentlemen  obferved  that 
in  a  country  fa*  extenfive  as  America,  and  where 
the  people  are  fo  widely  fcattered,  it  was  a  work 
of  immenfe  difficulty  to  have  a  regular  and  accu- 
rate account  of  the  meafures  of  government  com- 
municated through  every  part  of  the  union.  It  can 
fcarcely  be  conceived,  faid  he,  by  thofe  who  have 
no  call  to  vifit  the  interior  and  more  retired  parts 
of  the  country,  how  much  the  peace  of  fbciety 
is  diflurbed  by  the  malicious  propagation  of  poli- 
tical falfehood.  The  molt  wicked  lies  are  kept  in 
circulation,  for  months  together,  and  before  they 
can  be  effectually  contradicted,  the  people  have  be- 
come almoft  frantic.  For  example,  Mr.  Baldwin 
mentioned,  (and  editors  of  newfpapers  in  every 


58  HISTORY  OF   THE 

part  of  the  union,  ought  to  quote  this  part  of  his 
obfervations,  as  a  caveat  in  future,)  that  it  had  been 
afTerted  that  a  poll  tax  of  forty  (hillings  per  head, 
has  been  laid  on  all  the  inhabitants,  that  the  excife 
has  been  extended  to  wheat,  to  looms,  and  to  in- 
ftruments  of  hufbandry,  and  that  the  late  draughts 
of  the  eighty  thoufand  militia,  are  fold  to  France 
to  carry  on  the  war  !  It  is  probable,  that  riots  and 
infurrections  are  fomented  by  thefe  rumours 
more  than  by  all  other  caufes.  If  a  conftant  and 
regular  publication  of  all  that  is  done  could 
reach  every  part  of  the  United  States,  it  would  be 
an  effectual,  and,  perhaps  the  only  cure  for  thefe 
mifchiefs.  The  people  of  this  exteniive.  country 
have,  for  thefe  ten  years,  enjoyed  all  the  eflential 
benefits  of  fociety,  on  very  eafy  terms.  A  man 
with  nve  or  fix  hundred  acres  of  land  is  fcarcely 
called  upon  for  a  dollar  of  taxes  in  a  year.  Per- 
haps no  people  on  earth  ever  enjoyed  ib  fally  the 
advantages  of  fociety  with  fo  few  burdens.  Is  it  not 
a  diftreffing  confideration,  that  when  we  have  fo 
few  real  evils,  we  mould  create  to  ourfelves  ima- 
ginary ones,  that  give  us  fo  much  ufelefs  uneafmefs  ? 
Some  wrong  meafures  have  taken  place,  and  here- 
after will  take  place,  and  nobody  can  expect  that 
any  kind  of  conduct  will  give  z/;2/Y^r/#/fatisfaction*. 
But  a  very  fmall  difference  is  perceivable  in 
the  fcale  of  morality  from  one  end  to  another 
of  America.  Of  this  remark  the  Yazoo  buflnefs 
afforded  a  notable  inftance.  By  an  a&  pad  in 
January,  1795,  a  junto  in  the  aiTembly  of  Geor- 

*  In  the  courfe  of  the  difcuffion  of  this  day,  Mr.  Hillhoufe  ha- 
ving fpoke  for  forae  time,  Mr.  Dayton  rofe  next.  lie  began  by 
remarking,  that  it  could  not  be  expected  that  he  was  to  make  any 
obfervations  on  what  had  been  faid  by  the  member  juft  fitten  down, 
as  hf  did  not  hear  ten  words  (which  the  gentleman  /aid t  This  was  ow« 
ingttfnoife  made  by  members  in  the  houfe, 


UNITED    STATES  59 

gia  fold  to  four   companies   of  land-jobbers   fome 
vacant  lands  of  that  ftate,.     On  the  2d  of  Mar.ch, 
1795,    Mr.  Harper  faid  in  Congrefs  that  the  fale 
covered  thirty  millions  of  acres  of  the  fineft  land 
in    the  world,    and  moft  admirably    fltuated   for 
commerce  and  emigration*     It   might,  every  foot 
of  it,  be  made  worth  half  a  dollar  per  acre.     Its 
fettlement  would  tend  to  open  the  Miffiflippi  navi- 
gation. Thefe  thirty  millions  of  acres  had  been  fold, 
he  faid,  for  five  hundred  thoujand  dollars  !  A  more 
villainous  tranlaction   cannot  be  conceived.    Yet, 
ftrange  to  tell !  many  perfons  in  the  religious  town 
of  Bofton  were  deeply  concerned  in  buying  from 
thefe  purchafers.     The   newfpapers  faid  that  the 
ipeculators  of  that  place  had  agreed  to  give  fome 
millions  of  dollars  for  a  part  of  this  booty.     The 
reader  knows  that  the  bargain  hath  fince  been  fet 
afide,  but  that  does  not  lefTen  the  infamy  of  thofe 
connected  with    it.     The  following  extract  froru 
the  prefentment  of  the  grand  jury  of  Chatham  coun- 
ty in  Georgia,  at  the  October  term  of  1796,  gives 
an  entertaining  picture  of  the  parties  concerned. 
"  We  further  and  abominably  prefent  thofe  abo- 
cc  minable  and  iniquitous   grants  of  pine  barren 
u  land,  which  have  been  palmed  upon  foreigners 
"  and  northern  citizens,  the  plats  of  which  have 
u  been  decorated  generally  with  timber  not  found 
u  on  them  ;  and  moft  of  the  pretended  tracts  fold 
cc  are    not  in  exiftence,  to  the  injury   of  the  cha- 
"  racterof  the  ftate,  and  the  honeft  citizens  thereof ; 
c  nine-tenths  of  whom  behold  the  fpeculation  with 
c  the  utmoft  abhorrence,  confidering  the  meafure 
'  calculated  to  injure  their  reputation  and  to  cheat 
4C  the  unwary,  to  add  to  the  pelf  of  a  few  men,  who 
•'  are  void  of  principle  and  honour,  and  who  would 
tc  facrifice  their  country  and  its  rights  to  increafe 
c  their  own  property.     We  are  forry  to  fay,  that 


$0  HISTORY   OP    THE 

44  among  thofe  characters,  are  thofe  high  in  office 
"  in  the  United  States  ;  and  two  judges  thereof,  to 
"  wit,  James  Wiilbn  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
"  United  States,  and  Nathaniel  Pcndletcn.  of  the 
ic  Diftrift.Court  of  this  ftate,  together  with  James 
cc  Gunn,  Senator  from  this  ft  ate  to  Congrefs,  have 
*c  been  foremoft  in  influencing  the  legiflature  which 

*  patted  the  pretended  Yazoo  law,  bartering  the 
"  rights  of  this  flate,  and  the  mofl  fertile  trad:  in 

c  the  United  States,  for  a  mere  long  ;  and  which, 
<c  if  it  were  to  be  deemed  legal,  thofe  concerned 
tc  have  fold  for  ten  times  as  much,  which  the  ftate, 
a  by  proper  management,  might  have  put  into  her 
u  treafury.. 

ic  We  congratulate  our  fellow  citizens,  how- 
a  ever,  on  the  virtue  of  the  lad  legiflature,  which 
"  declared  the  faid  pretended  fale,  conftitutionally 

c  null  and  void,  as  fraudulent  and  corrupt,  and  we 
"hope  our  fellow  .citizens  at  large,  will  now  ex- 

c  hibit  their  virtue,  by  fending  fuch  men  only  to 
:c  the  next  legiflature,  as  are  known  to  be  free  from 
**  ipeculation,  and  will  refpecl  our  rights  by  con- 
ct  tinuing  and  confirming  the  annulling  law.  It  is 

c  only  by  a  firmnefs  of  condudl  in  the  citizens  at 
u  large,  on  this  important  occaflon,  that  our  rights 

c  can  be  refpecled  in  Congrefs,  and  at  home  ;  that 

c  this  fpecies  of  gambling  can  be  difcountenanced, 

'  and  fpeculating  (barpers  be  defeated,  which  is  as 
^  much  to  be  defired,  on  account  of  morality  and 
:c  our  rifing  generation,  as  the  future  repofe  of  fo- 

4  ciety,  and  the  reputation  of  our  growing  com- 
a  munity. 

ic  We  further  prefent  on  this  head  the  attempt 

'"  by  Alexander  Moultrie  and  others  to  drag  this 

**  Hate  into  the  federal  coprt,   to  anfwer  a  fuit  in 

;<  equity,  tinder  a   former  pretended  Yazoo  £lde« 

**  We  abhor  both  {peculations  alilie?  and  werecom- 


UNITED'  STATES.  61 

€i  mend  to  the  officers  of  the  ftate,  who  may  have 
"  been  ferved  with  copies  of  the  bill  filed  in  the 
*'  faid  fuit,  to  make  no  anfwer  thereto  until  the 
44  next  meeting  of  the  legiflature,  who  we  hope 
cc  will  remonftrate  toCongrefs  on  this  fubjeft.  We 
"  cannot  fuppqfe  the  ftate  liable  to  be  fued,  and  in 
"  this  cafe  we  hope  (he  will  preferve  her  dignity, 
"  by  refufing  an  anfwer,  particularly  in  a  court 
"  where  the  judges  have  been  guiding  the  laft  fpe- 
c  dilations,  and  where  fh^can  confequently  expect 
tc  nojuftice-  We  hope  that  the  amendment  to  the 
'*c  conftitution,  founanimoufly  entered  into  by  Con- 
"  grefs,  againft  the  fuability  of  a  ftate,  will  not  be 
u  leaped  over  to  anfwer  the  vile  purpofes  of  the 
"  moft  infamous  fpeculation." 

The  above  prefentment  gives  no  fublime  notion 
of  American  jurifprudence,<fven  at  its  fountain  head, 
What  follows  will  fhew  the  pollution  of  fome  of  its 
inferior  ftreams-  In  a  work  like  this,  the  wrongs 
of  the  poor  ought  not  to  be  overlooked  ;  and  the 
ftory  is  inferted  at  this  place  left,  in  the  fubfequent 
prefs  of  matter,  it  might  chance  to  be  forgotten. 
The  particulars  are  taken  from  a  letter  addreP 
fed  to  the  printer  of  the  Georgia  and  Augufta  Chro- 
nicle, dated  Hancock  county,  3oth  of  April,  1796, 
and  figned  Henry  Boyle.  They  ferve  to  fhew  what 
outrages  may  be  perpetrated,  in  this  country, 
under  the  fanftion  of  public  juftice. 

Sometime  in  laft  fall,  Abner  Pierce  was  commit- 
ted to  jail,  and  as  it  feems  in  Hancock  county,  on 
fufpicion  of  ftealing  a  mare,  the  property*  of  Ward 
DarneL  He  remained  in  irons  till  the  fitting  of 
the  fuperi or  court,  but  could  not  have  his  ttial.  The 
only  evidence  againft  him  was  the  oath  of  Darnel, 
while  two  other  perfons  fwore  that  they  were 
witneffes  to  his  having  received  the  mare  from 
Darnel,  in  virtue  of  a  mutual  agreement «  After 


62  HISTORY    OF   THE 

being  confined   for  a  conflderable  time,  public  ju£* 

tice  had  not  leifure  to  do  its  duty,  by  giving  him  a 

trial. 

This  poor  man  was  on  the  point  of  lying  in  jail 
till  the  next  fuperior  court;  "  confeqnently,"  lays 
the  letter,"  as  the  imprifonment  would  haveamoun- 
cc  ted  to  nearly  twelve  months,  lying  fummer 

c  and  winter  in  the  dungeon,  chained  in  iions^ 
"  without  one  bij:  of  fire  to  thaw  the  froit  oifhis 
4C  frozen  limbs,  and  only  one  oath  againfthim,two 

c  in  his  favour,  humanity  flirinks  at  the  idea*." 
What  makes  the  affair  rtill  worfe,  the  prifoner  had 
a  wife  and  two  fmall  children.  They  had  neither 
cow  nor  horfe,  nor  any  vifible  means  of  fubfiftence, 

*  What  ufe  could  there  be  for  keeping  the  man  in  irons  ?  A  good 
ftone  wall  would  have  anfwered  well  enough.  But  perhaps  the  pri- 
fon  was  made  of  boards.  About  fortv  years  ago,  a  wooden  jail  in 
Virginia,  with  a  prifoner  for  debt  confined  in  it,  took  fire.  The 
alarm  fpread.  The  jailor,  in  haftily  turning  the  key,  fpoiled  the 
lock.  The  prifoner,  feeing  all  efforts  for  his  releafe  to  he  in  vain, 
ftript  off  nis  clothes,  thrtift  them  through  the  bars  of  the  door, 
which  was  of  iron,  and  bade  the  keeper  carry  them  as  being  all 
which  he  had,  to'  his  family.  He  then  retired  to  a  corner  of  the 
prifon,  lay  down,  and  perimed  in  the  flames, 

If  a  man  was  to  be  kept  a  twelve-month  in  irons,  and  then  t© 
be  hanged,  for  ftealing«w  horfe,  what  (hall  we  make  of  the  old  Con- 
grefs,  and  their  agents,  who  forcibly  pilfered  fo  many  that  are  yet 
unpaid  for  ?  Nay,  what  is  to  be  faid  of  the  third  and  fourth  Congrefs, 
who  have  rejected  many  fcores  or  hundreds  of  fuch  claims,  after  ad- 
witting  them  to  be  juft  ?  At  the  fame  time,  we  are  giving  John  Adams, 
FOURTEEN  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  to  buy  furniture  for  his  houfe. 
The  latter  motion  went  through  the  Reprefentatives  bv  fixty-three 
votes  againft  twenty- feven.  It  was  impoffible  to  withftand  the  pa- 
thos of  Mr.  Samuel  Sitgreaves,  when  describing  the  crazy  bed- 
fteads,  the  broken  chairs,  the  ragged  linen,  the  moth-eaten  curtains, 
the  rufty  faucepans,  and  the  fractured  waterpots,  that  General  Wam- 
ington  was  to  leave  behind  him  in  Market-flreet.  But,  had  it  been 
a  foldier  with  a  wooden  leg,  who,  refiding  at  the  diltance  of  three 
hundred  leagues,  had  only  juft  heard  of  the  ftatute  of  limitations; 
or  had  it  been  a  widow,  like  Ami  Dardcn,  whofe  only  horfe  had 
been  dragged  from  her  plough,  while  her  children  we&e  ftarving, 
Mr.  Sitgreaves  might  as  well  have  addreffed  the  north-weit  wind. 


UNITED    STATES.  63 

except  his  labour.  Four  perfons  entered  them- 
felves  as-iecurities  to  the  amount  of  twelve  hun- 
dred dollars,  that  this  Abner  Pierce  fhould  attend 
at  the  next  fuperior  court.  Mr.  Boyle,  who  fub- 
fcribesthis  letter,  was  one  of  the  juftices  of  peace 
who  granted  his  liberation.  For  fuch  an  office  of 
benevolence  and  of  equity,  he  has  been  abufed 
in  a  newfpaper,  and  publifhed,  in  his  own  defence, 
the  letter  above  abridged. 

The  following  is  another  anecdote  of  oppreffion, 
and  of  ib  fingular  a  kind,  that  it  ought  to  be  recor*- 
ded    for  the  honour  of  the  eighteenth  century.  A 
nejro  man  from  the  co aft  of  Guinea  had  been  fold 
to  a  farmer  on    the  fouthern  line  of  North-Carolli- 
na.     In  the  fall  of  1793,  n^  applied  to  a  black  boy 
and   girl,  the  property   of  an  adjacent   planter,  to 
give  him  fome  vi&uals.     In  return  he  affbred  them 
that  he  would  perform  a  charm  to  foften  the  feve- 
rity   of  their    mafter.     He  gave  them  a  callibafh 
full  of  the  feathers  and  claws  of  birds,  mixed  with 
negro  men's    nails.     This   was  buried  under  the 
threuhoFd  of  the  planter's  door.     He  was,    at  that 
timefick,  or  fell  ill  foon  after;  and  having  ordered 
the  boy  to  be  puniflied  for  fome  offence,  the  latter 
faidthat,  if  he  was  pardoned,  he  would  tell  what  had 
made  his  mafter  ill.     The    concealment  was   im- 
mediately difcovered,  along  with  fome  of  the  fame 
materials  which  had  been  ftuck  about  the  flck  man's 
bed.     The   necromancer  was  confequently  taken 
up.    This  was  on  a  Saturday.     He  was  tried    on 
the  next  Monday,  by  a  jury  of  three  free-holders^ 
convicted  of  witchcraft,  and  hanged  on  the  Tue£- 
day.     The   boy  and  girl  were  whipt  and  branded' 
in  the  forehead  with  a  red  hot  iron.     One  of  thefe 
children  was  eleven,  and  the  other  thirteen  years 
of  age.     The  ftory  has  made  noife,  and  an  indi£ 
tind  account  of  it,  with  fome  remarks,  appeared 


64  HISTORY   OF   THE 

in  the  .new {papers,  a  conilderable  time  after  the 
perpetration  of  the  murder.  The  narrative  is 
here  given  on  the  authority  of  a  gentleman  of 
veracity  in  Pennfylvania,  who  was  on  thefpot  foon 
after.  A  neighbouring  magiftrate  obferved  to  him 
that  he  had  no  doubt  as  to  the  guilt  of  "the  prifoner. 
He  was  forry  for  being  from  home  at  the  time  of 
the  execution,  as  he  ihould  have  made  his  own 
negroes  attend  it.  He  added,  by  way  of  confo- 
lation,  that  the  owner  of  the  (lave  would  not  be 
any  great  lofer  by  the  affair,  becaufe  the  ftate  was 
to  grant  him  fevenry  pounds  of  damages*, 

We  fhall  clofe  this  chapter  with  a  few  mifcel- 
laneous  remarks.  In  the  profound  debates  of  De- 
cember, 1796,  about  'whether  Americans  ivere 
ihefreeft  and  mojl  enlightened  people  in  the  luorld^ 
Dr.  Ames  {aid  that,  by  all  which  he  could  learn,  the 
people  in  Europe  who  could  read  were  but  as  nume- 
rous as  thofe  in  America  who  could  not  read.  In 
plainer  words,  he  meant  to  {late  that  the  people  in 
the  new  world  had  twenty  times  more  commonly 
a  decent  education  than  thofe  in  the  old  ohe.  Mr, 
Giles  agreed  with  him  in  thinking  that  Americans 
were  wifer  than  the  reft  of  mankind,  but  he  did 
not  believe  it  modeft  or  becoming  to  divulge  the 
fecret ;  for  a  fecret  it  hitherto  has  been,  and,  flnce 
the  resolution  was  negatived,  it  is  likely  to  remain 
fb»  The  very  morning  after  the  doctor  made  the 
above  remark,  Mr.  Bache  printed  a  decifive  fpeci- 
jnen  of  the  iuperiority  of  the  American  intellect. 
A  woman  in  New-Hampmire  was  accufed,  and  per- 
fecuted  for  being  a  witch-  A  man  who  had  beaten 
her,  was,  juft  before  this  debate,  brought  to  trial. 
The  wicked  bench  laughed  at  the  charge  of  witch- 

*  In  Jamaica,  fevcral  black  people  have  been  executed  for  witch- 
•atafc. 


UNITED    STATES.  65- 

•raft*  In  revenge,  a  mob  of  the  wi felt  men  on 
earth  were  on  the  point  of  pulling  down  the  court 
houfe. 

Connecticut  is  ufually  held  up  as  the  mirror  of 
true  republicanifm,  the  centrical  point,  the  very 
focus  of  federal  virtue.  Take  the  following  in- 
flance.  In  fpring,  1796,  during  the  debates  on  the 
Britifh  treaty,  a  newfpaper  of  that  ftate,  which  has 
been  already  cited*,  had  the  following  mod  ex- 
traordinary paragraph. 

''  ff^JS  are  informed,  by  a  gentleman  from  the  up* 
[C  per  part  of  the  county  'of  Hamp/hire ,  that  a  regi- 
c  menial  revietv  was  held,  if -we  are  not  mijlaken, 
'  at  Conway*     As   the  people  were  informed  that 
u  fbme  communications  of  a  political  nature,  were  to 
c  be  made  to  them,  upon  the  parade,  a  very  general 
c  attendance  was  obferved,  of  all  ages,  from  Jix teen 
c  years  to  fixty.     fhe  communications  were  read  to 
4  them  while  under  arms,  and  they  were  then  cal~ 
'*  led  upon  to  exprefs  their  Jentiments,   which   was 
c  done  without  any  he/it ation.      The  unanimous  "voice 
c  of  the  people  prejent  was,  that,  before  they  would 
"  fubmit  to  a  proftration  of  the  conftitution,  by  the 
prejent  majority  in  the  Houfe  of  Reprejentatives^ 
they  would  MARCH  TO  PHILADELPHIA  5  up- 
hold the  conftitution  and  the  President  ;  and  caufc 
the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  to  be  carried  into  ef- 
"fed." 

It  would  have  been  curious  to  fee  this  army  fet 
out  from  Hartford  with  Trumbull,  as  a  fecond 
Alcsus  at  their  head,  chanting  the  paean  of  battle. 
Before  they  had  got  within  an  hundred  miles  of 
this  city,  Pennfylvania  might  perhaps  have  furnim- 
ed  them  with  materials  for  a  Connecticut  .^Eneid ; 
and  truly  the  caufe  to  be  celebrated,  and  the  bard 

*  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  ix» 
K 


66  HISTORY    OF    THE 

who  was  to  (ing,  were  two  objects  fo  worthy  of  each 
tDther,  that  the  world  has  not  feen  a  more  fuitablc 
conjunction. 

All  the  Intemperate  expreffions  of  democratic  fo- 
eieties,  and  Aqua~vit& reformers,  do  not  come  within 
fight  of  the  effrontery  and  infolence  of  this  fingle 
paragraph.  A  body  of  men  affemble  in  arms  at  a 
review.  They  declare  that  they  will  march  to 
Philadelphia.,  overbear  the  majority  of  the  Houfe 
of  Reprefentatives,  and  uphold  the  conftitution,  and 
the  Prefident.  By  the  way,  it  was  time  that  a  public 
iervant  of  fuch  dangerous  popularity  mould  be  re- 
moved from  his  office.  The  refignation  of  Gene- 
ral Wafhington  merits  the  inexpreflible  gratitude 
of  his  country.  But  what  better  was  the  Conway  re- 
view than  the  meeting  at  Braddock's  field  ?  Indeed 
it  was  much  worfe  ;  for  the  whilky  boys  did  not, 
like  this  federal  gang,  make  an  explicit  avowal  of 
rebellion. 

If  the  defcription  drawn  by  Morfe  of  New-Eng- 
landers  be  faithful,  nothing  but  fuch  behaviour 
is  to  be  looked  for.  "  They  are  indeed,"  fays  he, 
"  often  jealous  to  excefs  ;  a  circumftance  which/ is 
"  a  fruitful  fource  of  imaginary  grievances,  and  of 
*c  innumerable Jujpicions, and  unjuft  complaints  a^aln/l 
<c  government. — A  veryconiiderable  part  of  thepeo- 
<c  pie  have  either  too  little  or  too  much  learning  to 
c  make  peaceable  Jubjetis.  They  know  enough, 
c  however,  to  make  them  think  that  they  know  a 
*4  great  deal,  when  in  fact  they  know  but  little. — 
*c  Hence  originates  that  refllefs,  litigious  complain- 
<c  ^ng  Spirit,  which  forms  a  dark  fliade  in  the  cha- 
xc  raster  of  New-England  men*."  This  is  the  ac- 
count given  by  one  of  their  own  parfons. 

Morfe  hath  obligingly  announced  his  own  princi- 

*  The  American  Geography,  London  edition  of  1792,  p.  146. 


UNITED    STATES.  67 

pies.  c<  The  clergy  (of  Connecticut:)  who  are  nu- 
'c  merous,  and  as  a  body  very  refpeftable,  have  hi- 
"  therto  preferved  a  kind  of  ariftocratical  balance 
"  in  the  very  democratical  government  of  this  ftate  j 
u  which  has  happily  operated  as  a  check  upon  the 
<c  overbearing  {pint  of  republicani/m*  ."  What  a 
precious  deliverance  that  muft  be  !  It  is  npt  fur- 
prifing  that  this  (late  vomited  up,  during  the  revo- 
lution, fuch  a  multitude  of  the  moft  inveterate  cut- 
throat tories. 

"In  New-England,"  fays  Morfe,  "  learning  is 
"  more  generally  diffufed  among  all  ranks  of  peo- 
"  pie  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  globed."  His 
univerfal  geography  fhews  how1  little  Morfe  him- 
felf  knows  about  many  parts  of  the  globe.  He 
farther  adds  that  u  another  very  valuable  fource  of 
ic  information  to  the  people  is  the  newspapers,  of 
"  which  not  lefs  than  thirty  thoufand  are  printed 
<c  every  week  in  New-Englandt."  Philadelphia 
iTas  now,  befides  other  prints,  eight  daily  newfpa- 
pers.  They  work  off  about  forty  thoufand  meets 
of  paper  in  a  week||  ;  fo  that  the  people  of  this  ci- 
ty muft  be  ftill  wifer  if  pofiible,  than  the  New-Eng- 
landers  ;  who  have  only  one  daily  newfpaper  in,- 
the  whole  country, 

But  newfpapers,  and  efpecially  fomeof  thofe  in? 
New-England,  do  not  always  tend  to  illuminate  j- 
they  often  miflead.     Thus,  about  the  memorable 
.month  of  April,  1796,  a  number  of  the  Columbian 
Centinel  had  an  article  that  begins  thus* 
«  MR.  RUSSEL, 

"  I  fend  you  another  extract  from  Philadelphia^ 
*c  too  -important  to  be  kept  private*  You  may  there- 
u  fore  infert  it," 


The  American  Geography,  Londora  edition  of  1702,  p.  2io». 
f  Ibid.  p.  14.5.  J  Ibid. 

.  [I  In  the  firft  feffion  of  the  fourth  Congrefs,  the  Houfe  of  Repre 
fentatives  coft  the  public  for  newfpapers,  twelve  hundred  dollau  / 


68  HISTORY    OF  THE 

This  important  packet  is  by  far  too  long,  as  well 
as  too  itupid,  for  republication  entire,  but  a  few  de- 
tached parts  may  ierve  as  a  fpecimen. 

The  writer  lets  out  by  alluding  to  the  dij graced 
{^nation- of  Congrefs  and  our  country.  A  majority 
in  the  houfe  are  "  lifted  under  Madifbn  and  Galla- 
u  tin  ;  or  rather  Gallatin  and  Madiibn,  for  the  lat- 
<c  ter  has  become  to  changed  as  to  be  only  a  fecond 
u  to  the  former,  a  devoted  tool  to  him  in  overturn- 

cc  ing  the  government. A  majority  of  the  houfc 

"  are  arrayed,  under  Juch  leaders,  to  oppofe  and 
*'  pull  doivn  the  Preftdent.  Their  aim  is  to  defray 
*•  the  executive,  to  ufurptothe  houfe  all  the  power 
a  given  by  the  conflitution  to  them  exclufively." 

The  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  have  never  been  lifted  under  Mr.  Madiibn 
or  any  body  elfe  ;  as  little  has  Mr.  Madifon  been 
lifted  under  Mr  Gallatin,  as  a  devoted  toolto  aid  him 
in  overturning  the  government.  No  reafon  is  af- 
figned,  and  no  proof  is  offered,  that  a  majority  in 
Congrefs  had  any  fuch  defign  ;  and  therefult  {hew- 
ed that  a  majority  of  the  reprefentatives  would  fub- 
mit  to  ratify  the  treaty.  What  then  becomes  of 
their  pretended  enlijlment  f 

As  for  pulling  down  of  the  Prefident,  the  ex- 
prefTion  is  highly  impertinent,  and  intended  only 
to  inflame  the  feelings  of  the  public.  Did  aBritifh 
Houfe  of  Commons  ever  fcruple,  or  tlid  they  even 
forbear,  to  difcufs  the  merits  of  a  foreign  treaty  ? 
No  !  And  yet  it  feems  that  to  do  fo  in  America  is 
to  pull  down  the  Prefident,  and  overturn  the  con- 
ilitution.  If  the  conduct  of  Congrefs  in  making 
this  enquiry  was  culpable,  the  conflitution  is  de  fac- 
to overturned  already.  It  is  laid  in  ruins  at  the  feet 
of  the  executive.  The  writer  goes  on  to  tell  us 
that,  flnce  1781,  Mr.  Madifon  has  been  a  devoted 
tool  to  the  French  inter  eft  and  government  ^  the  (ih<* 


UNITED    STATES.  <5* 

jcft  tool  or  the  active  hireling  of  the  tyrant  of  the 
day.  He  is  charged  with  unwearied  endeavours  to 
plunge  this  country  into  the  prefent  war  in  aid  of 
France, 

There  is  more  ribbaldry  to  the  fame  purpofe, 
and  all  equally  impudent  and  nonfenfical.  What 
muft  bethey?#A?  of  mind  among  the  readers  of  this 
honefl  Centinel,  if  they  digeft  fiich  a  m oriel ?  An 
hundred  legiflators  never  yet  affembled,  without 
often  differing  in  opinion  from  each  other.  The 
people  without  doors  are  alfo  much  divided  on  al- 
moft  every  great  topic,  and  we  may  as  well  con- 
ceit them  to  be  bribed  as  their  reprefentatives. 

If  the  citizens  of  New-England  are  fo  much  wi- 
fer  than  their  neighbours,  it  mull  certainly  appear 
in  the  choice  of  their  reprefentatives  in  Congrefs. 
The  fuperiority  is  not  always  confpicuous.  In  the 
debate  on  thefnuffexcife,  in  ipringi794,  fome  mem- 
bers from  that  part  of  the  union,  and  efpecially 
Mr.  Sedgwick,  affirmed,  that  a  land  tax  was  injuft 
and  impro&tcabk,-and  that  Americans  would  never 
Jiibmit  to  it* .  It  was  impoflible  for  any  member  to 
give  a  more  consummate  proof  of  ignorance  or  ftu- 
pidity.  The  conlHtution  of  MafTachuletts  itfelf, 
the  very  ftate  that  fent  Mr.  Sedgwick  to  the  houfe, 
authorifes  the  aiTembly  u  to  impofe  and  levy  pro- 
c  portional  and  reafonable  alTeffments,  rates,  and 
c  taxes,  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of,  and  perfons  re- 
'  fident,  and  eftates  lying  within  the  faid  common- 
"  wealtht."  Such  taxes  are  aftually  paid,  yet  Mr. 
Sedgwick  has  often  declared  that  they  never  could  be 
railed,  This  conveyed  a  grofs  reflection  upon  the 
country.  In  point  of  argument,  the  gentleman 
might  as  well  have  whittled  yanky  doodle  to  thelc- 

*  The  words  were  taken  down  at  the  timc>  by  the  author, 
I  Part  zd.  chap,  i,  fee,  i.  article  4. 


7o  HISTORY    OF    THE 

giflators  of  America.  This  remark  has  no  reference 
to  MefTrs.  Henderfon,  Harper,  and  a  certain  vene- 
rable majority  in  the  fecond  feffion  of  the  fourth 
Congrefs. 

While  the  people  of  MafTachufetts  have  been  fo 
anxious  about  the  prefervation  of  the  federal  confti- 
tution,  they  (hould  revife  their  own.  Morfe  fays, 
ct  that  the  religion  of  MafTachufetts  is  eftablifhed, 
cc  by  their  excellent  conftitution,  on  a  mofl  liberal^ 
cc  and  tolerant  plan"  The  prefent  horrible  op- 
preffion  of  baptifls,  and  other  feclaries,  contra- 
dicts this  aflertion*. 

\Vhen  the  Trojan  fugitives,  driven  afhore  on 
the  coaft  of  Africa,  folicited  aid  from  the  queen  of 
Carthage,  Dido,  in  her  anfwer,  tells  them,  that, 
acquainted  with  misfortunes,  flie  had  learned  to  Juc- 
cour  the  mijerabk.  A  higher  authority  than  that  of 
Virgil,  has  alfo  declared,  that,  by  thejadnejs  of  the 
countenance  the  heart  is  made  better.  A  fhoal  of 
metaphyflcians,  moral  philofophers,  and  divines,  in 
volumes  of  five  hundred  or  a  thoufand  pages,  have 
likewife  told  us,  that  adverfity  foftens  and  refines 
the  heart. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  world  is  full  of 
miiery  ;  government,  a  few  of  the  republics  ex- 
cepted,  is  nothing  but  robbery  reduced  to  afyftem. 
Life  itfclf  has  emphatically,  and  juftly,  been  termed 
a  vale  of  tears.  Thefe  truths  are  not  only  trite, 
but  they  have  been  ftale,  and  even  mouldy,  for 
twenty  centuries. 

Now,  as  adverfity  is  fo  common  every  where, 
and  fb  fupreme  an  antidote  for  thawing  the  ice  of 
felfifhncfs,  as  poets  have  loaded  avarice  with  ridicule 
in  this  world,  and  as  divines  have  menaced  it  with 
perdition  in  the  next,  our  natural  conclufion,  from. 

*  See  American  Annual  R.egi{lcr,  chap.  ix0 


UNITED    STATES.  7i 

thefe  powerful  and  coalefcing  caufes,  m lift  be,  that 
this  blefTed  planet  is  pregnant  with  fympathy,  chari- 
ty, liberality,  and  the  entire  bead-roll  of  benevo- 
lent fenfibilities.  Amen. 

Thefe  remarks  have  occurred  on  reading  the  ac- 
count of  a  very  melancholy  affair  which  took  place 
in  the  latter  end  of  February,  1796,  at  Hingham, 
in  the  ftate  of  MafTachufetts.  The  following  par- 
ticulars of  it  are  abridged  from  a  letter  written  by 
one  of  the  profefFors  in  the  univerfity  at  Cambridge, 
dated  the  2  gd  of  February,  and  printed  in  a  late 
Bofton  newfpaper. 

About  two  months  before  the  date  of  the  letter, 
a  young  foreigner  called  on  this  profeflbr,  and  in- 
troduced himfelf  by  faying,  that  he  wanted  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  fome  fcientific  man.  The 
fubjecl:  which  he  brought  on  was  pneumatics  and 
mechanics.  He  converfed  with  the  profefTcr  flu- 
ently, in  French,  Dutch,  and  Latin.  After  a  con- 
ference, of  which  part  is  related,  he  took  his  leave, 
and,  by  agreement,  paid  a  fecond  viilt  to  the  profe£- 
for  in  three  days.  We  mall  now  quote  verbatim 
a  part  of  the  account  of  him,  as  given  by  fche  wri- 
ter of  the  letter. 

cc  From  his  good  figure,  polite  and  eafy  manners, 
I  concluded  he  was   fome  unfortunate  emigrant 
from  the  continent  of  Europe,  probably  in  the 
"  fervice  of  the  monarchy,  who,  deftitute  of  money 
c  and  friends,  chofe  to  apply  fome  of  the  princi- 
"  pies  he  had  learnt  at  college,  to  the  purpofe  of 
:c  procuring  fubfiftence  by   a  novel  exhibition.     On 
•'  this  account,  I  never  afked  him  his  name  or  na~ 
"  tion  r" 

On  what  account  ?  He  was  deftitute  of  money 
and  friends,  and  he  wanted  to  procure  fubfiftence 
by  the  exhibition  of  a  novel  mechanical  apparatus  ; 


tc 


72  HISTORY    OF   THE 

and,  therefore^  this  American  philofopher  did  not 
venture  to  afk  him  his  name  or  nation. 

"  'Tvvas  pitiful !  'twas  wond'rous  pitiful !" 

That  the  profeffor  in  a  college  fhould  be  capable 
of  mean  ungentleinariy  condud",  we  know  by  fre- 
quent perfonal;  experience  ;  but,  that  any  man 
fhould  wifh  to  bring  hirnfelf  forward  to  the  public 
in  fb  humiliating  a  point  of  view,  is  rather  uncom- 
mon. Is  it  a  crime  to  be  in  want  of  money  ?  Is  it 
culpable  to  attempt  earning  fubfiftence  by  exhibit- 
ing an  apparatus  of  mechanifm  ?  Both  thefe  liberal 
and  manly  doclrines  are  avowed  by  this  Cambridge 
profeffor.  Such  treatment  of  a  foreigner,  a  man  of 
learning,  and,  above  all,  a  fellow  creature  in  di£- 
trefs,  is  difgraceful  not  only  to  the  individual  who 
afted  fo,  but,  from  his  alacrity  in  telling  the  ftory, 
it  reflects  a  farcaim  on  the  country  to  which  he  be- 
longs. A  reader  in  Europe  will  be  tempted  to 
think  very  meanly  of  the  general  caft  of  our  ideas. 
"Was  the  profefTor  afraid  that  this  foreigner  would 
eclipfe  him  in  the  eyes  of  his  pupils,  by  his  inten- 
ded fhew  ?  How  eafy  would  it  have  been  for  the 
profefTor  to  have  found  employment  of  fome  de- 
cent kind  for  a  well  educated  man,  who  underftood 
four  languages  !  It  is  trufted  that  every  reader  will 
heartily  defpife  fuch  a  froft-bitten  pedagogue. 

The  chilling  reception  that  he  encountered,  was 
undoubtedly  the  reafon  why  this  ill-fated  wander- 
er fell  into  defpair,  and  (hot  himfelf.  He  left  a 
letter  addrefTed  to  the  profeffor,  wherein  heftates, 
that  his  want  of  money,  and  the  failure  of  his  plans 
for  obtaining  fubfiftence,  had  determined  him  to 
put  an  end  to  his  life. 

The  profefTbr  fpeaks  of  him  thus  : 

cc  The  writings  and  drawings  which  he  left  di- 
**  reeled  to  me,  are  fo  far  from  evincing  a  derang- 
"  ed  mind,  that  they  intimate  a  cool  and  vigor- 


UNITED   STATES.  ?§ 

u  ou$  intellect  ;  being  executed  not  merely  with 
tc  tafle,  but  mathematical  exaftnefs. — I  have  never 
"  heard  any  thing  againfl  his  character,  but  have 
u  feen  fome  evidences  of  his  humanity,  in  giving 
u  freedpm  to  his  flave,  after  binding  him  to  a  trade 
*c  by  which  he  could  get  his  living/'  How  much 
is  it  to  be  regretted  that  a  man  fo  gifted^  mould 
have  met  with  fuch  beaftly  treatment ! 

The  profeflbr  concludes  by  citing  the  exit  of 
this  gentleman  as  a  proof,  that  "  nature,  without 
u  the  commanding  voice  of  religion^  has  left  the 
4C  nobleft  of  her  works  imperfect."  What  part  of 
the  chriftian  religion  taught  this  perfon  to  keep  a 
ftr  anger  at  a  diftance,  becaufe  he  is  in  diftrefs  ?  To 
repel  fuch  fordid  ideas,  and  to  extend  the  feelings 
of  humanity,  is  the  only  intelligible  or  rational 
purpofe  of  religion. 

The  name  of  this  victim  to  raQmefs  was  Iherkin* 
He  was  probably  a  German,  there  is,  at  leaft,  fuch 
a  name  in  Pruffia*.  The  letter-writer  is  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Waterhbufej  ProfefTor  of  Medicine  at  Cam- 
bridge. Leyden  gave  him  education ;  Rhode-Ifland 
had  the  diflionour  of  his  birth  * 

The  people  of  New-England  boaft  much  of  their 
fuperior  hofpitality  to  ftrangers  ;  of  which  this 
anecdote  holds  up  a  (hocking  fample. 

Before  this  forry  pedant  fpeaks  a  fecond  time  of 
religion,,  let  him  read  the  parable  of  the  good  Sa- 
maritan. In  the  Levite>  who  paffed  by  on  the  other 
ide,  he  will  trace  the  intellectual  pedigree  of -his 
own  mind.  When  fuch  a  character  prefents  itfelf  to 
mankind,  as  a  paragon  of  piety ^  it  is  both  our  right, 
and  duty  to  wrench  the  vizor  from  the  features  of 
deformity,  and  to  adminifter  that  typographical 
drubbing,  which  has  been  fo  hardily  courted,  and 
£>  richly  deferved. 

L 


74  HISTORY   OF   THE 


CHAPTER    IIL 

Federal  artifices  to  'promote  a  French  quarrel.-™ 
Howe's  landing  at  the  head  of  Elk. — Jacobins  not 
ivorje  than  other  people. — Burgoyne's  pidure  of 
the  Brit  iff i  Eaft-India  Company. — Recent  fioppagc 
of  the  bank  of  England.* — Robefpierre  eclipjed  by 
Pitt. — Ammmt  of  the  yearly  rental  of  Britain. — 
Note  on  the  fiat e-houje  of  Hartford. — Number  of 
the  public  creditors  of  England. — The  triumph  of 
Camillus. — Moral  certainty  of  American  indemni- 
fication for  Britifli  piracy. — Mercantile  apathy  for 
the  Juffe  rings  of  American  Jeamen. — >lmprej]ment 
at  Jeremie. — Pinckney. — jfay* — Neck  or  nothing 
forgeries  of  Pitt. — Dependence  of  the  Brittfh  IV eft- 
Indies  on  the  United  States  .—Fallacies  of  Camil- 
lus.— What  Jay/hould  hew e  J aid  to  Grenvillc. 

AMONG  other  artifices  employed  by  the  federal 
party  to  exafperate  the  people  of  this  country 
againft  the  French  republic,  one  is,  their  afTertion 
that  the  United  States  were  indebted  for  the  aid  of 
France  to  the  perfbnal  benevolence  of  Louis.  This 
is  conftantly  held  up  as  a  reafon  for  detefting  the 
revolution ;  and  mountains  of  ribbaldry  have,  from 
that  ground,  been  dilcharged on  its  authors.  Some 
notice  has  already  been  taken  of  this  error*.  Mr. 
Burke,  in  the  letters  above  quoted,  goes  fully 
through  it.  He  fays  that  even  when  Louis  came 
to  the  throne,  "  the  revolution  ftrongly  operated 
"  in  all  its  caufes."  The  politicians  of  France 
had  been  compelled  to  defpife  their  kings.  "  From 
c  quarrelling  with  the  court,  they  began  to  com- 

*  Britifh  Honour  and  Humanity,  p.  14.    American  Annual  Re» 
giiler,  chap,  viii. 


UNITED  STATES.  7j? 

"  plain  of *  monarchy  itfelf ;  as  a  fyftem  of  govern- 
"  merit  too  variable  for  any  regular  plan  of  nation- 
u  al    aggrandizement.     They    obferved,    that,  in 
cc  that  fort  of  regimen,  top  much  depended  on  the 
u  perfonal  character  of  the  prince. — They  compa- 
u  red  with  mortification  the  fyftematic  proceedings 
"  of  a   Roman    Senate  with  the  fluctuations   of  a 
<c  monarchy. — 'What    cure   for  the  radical  weak- 
"  nefs  of  the  French  monarchy ,  but  in  a  republic  ? 
tc  Out  the  word  came;  and  it  never  went  back. — » 
u  The  different  effects  of  a  great  military  and  am- 
c  bitious  republic,  and  of  a  monarchy  of  the  fame 
"  defcription  were    conflantly  in   their   mouths." 
After  a  long  detail  of  circumftances,  Edmund  goes 
on  in  thefe  words :  u  Thefe  fentiments  were  not  pro- 
"  duced,   as  fome  think,  by  their   American   alii-- 
cc  ance.     The  American  alliance  was  produced  by 
"  theitirepublican  principles  and  republican  policy/*" 
Several  pages   are  fpent  on  this  fubjecl,  and  every 
thing  proves  that  the  alliance  of  France  with  Ame- 
rica    was    the    work  of    the    republican   party, 
not  of  the  king.     After  this    explanation,  no  man 
who  prefers  truth  to  fiction  will  deafen  the  public 
about  their  obligations  to    Louis,  or  the   guilt  of 
putting  him  to  death.     It    was  at  word  not  more 
criminal  than  the  unavenged  murder  fo  lately  com- 
mitted in  the  jail  of  Philadelphia*.  We  print  week- 
ly whole  columns   of  reproach  againfl  French  ar- 
mies ;  yet,  when  five  thoufand  of  thefe  troops  mar- 
ched down  Front-ftreet,  in  their  way  to  the  capture 
of  Cornwallis,  it    is  ftill  remembered    with  what 
proftration  of  gratitude    they  were  welcomed   by 
the  furrounding  citizens.     The  French  ambaffador 
was  looked  up  to  as  a  tutelar  divinity.     His  landing 
from  Europe  was  announced  by   the  difcharge  of 
cannon,  by  fire-works  and  illuminations.     His  pre- 

*  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  X3 


76  HISTORY    OF   THE 

fence  was  eflential  at  every  public  entertainment. 
He  was  the  arbiter  of  politics,  of  fafhion,  and  of 
tafte.  But  our  turn  has  been  ferved,  and  citizen 
Adet  can  defcribethe  reverfe  of  the  medal.  Daniel 
Defoe,  {peaking  of  his  country,  fays  : 

"  Ingratitude,  a  devil  of  black  renown, 
"  Poffefs'd  her  very  early  as  his  own  I" 

Yet  there  is  nothing  quite  fo  paltry  as  this  con- 
duit of  ours,  even  in  the  fable  hiftory  of  England. 
In   a  comparifon  with  Britifh  armies,    the  French 
cannot  lofe  much.  When  Howe  landed  at  the  head 
of  Elk,  many  perfons  in  that  neighbourhood  had  pre- 
pared the  belt  entertainment  which  they  could  af- 
ford for  the  reception  of  their  deliverers.     They 
brought  the  Englifti  foldiers  to  their  tables.     The 
inftant  that  dinner   was  over,    the  guefls  began  to 
plunder.     It  was  affirmed,  at  the  time,  that  in  an 
extent  of  a  few  miles,  they  took  away  fixteen  hun- 
dred horfes.     It  was  a  common  practice,  when  one 
of  the  regulars  met  an  American,  to  aik  him   the 
time  of  day.  When  he  pulled  out  his  watch,  it  was 
wrefted  from  his  fingers.     The  tories  were  fo  much 
afhamed   of  this  treatment,   that  they  were  never 
heard  to  complain,    and  at  the  diftance  of  twenty 
years,  many  of  them  are  yet  as  firm  in  loyalty  as  ever. 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  Co.  are  in  the  habit  of 
making  comparifons  between  France  and  England 
to  the  advantage  of  the  latter.     A  celebrated  wri- 
ter of  the  federal  phalanx  obferves,  that  the  French 
'  have  ranfacked  the  coffers  of  the  rich,  {"tripped 
c  poverty  of  its  very   rags,  robbed  the  infant  of 
c  its  birth-right,  wrenched   the    crutch  from  tot- 
c  tering  old  age,  and,  joining  facrilege  to  burgla- 
c  ry,  have  plundered  the    altars  of  God*."     All 
this,  and  much  more  is  true  ;  and  declamations  of 
that  fort  have  been  a  powerful  means  with  the  Bri- 

*•  A  New  Year's  Gift  for  the  Democrats,  p.  u 


UNITED    STATES.  77 

tifh  interefh  for  exafperating  the  people  of  America. 
But,  coming  home  for  a  comparifon,  the  citizens  of 
this  flate  would  not  think  themfelves  fairly  painted 
in  a  picture  of  the  Paxton  boys,  butchering  innocent 
Indians  in  the  prilbn  of  Lancafler.  A  few  ienten* 
ces  will  jfhew  that,  in  general  morality,  the  Bri- 
tifti  are  as  bad  as  other  people,  and  often  much  woric 
than  many. 

Mr.  Howard  fays,  that  the  annual  average  of 
executions  in  London  only,  for  twenty-three  years, 
was  between  twenty-nine  and  thirty.  u  In  all  the 

•/  v 

c  feven  provinces,"  fays  he,  u  there  are  feldom 
u  more  executions  than  from  four  to  fix."  The 
United  Provinces  are,  by  common  calculation,  three 
times  more  populous  than  London.  They  fhonld, 
in  proportion,  have  ninety  executions  per  annum, 
inftead  of  which  there  are  but  five.  Mr.  Howard 
gives  an  hundred  other  fafts  of  the  fame  nature. 
This  may  help  in  afcer  taining  the  balance  of  domej- 
tic  morality. 

As  n.>r  politics,  no  jacobin  can  lefs  difguife  his 
appetite  for  blood  and  plunder  than  the  common 
run  of  EritHh  hiftorians.  The  late  war  againft 
Tipoo  Saib  is  fpoke  of,  as  follows :  "  No  period  ap- 
u  peared  more  favourable  to  humble  Tipoo.  The 
"  Nizam  and  the  Mahrattas  both  declared  theni- 
"  felves  ready  TO  CRUSH  THE  RISING  POW- 
u  ER  OF  MYSOilE*/'  The  latter  words  are,  as 
printed  by  the  author,  in  capitals.  He  proceeds 
at  confiderable  length,  in  the  moft  fordid  and  info- 
lent  tone  of  exultation.  No  highwayman  could 
fpeak  in  plainer  language.  To  humble  Tipoo! 
This  creed  vindicates  every  thing  that  the  French 
have  clone,  or  can  do.  Thus,  after  the  earthquake 
at  Lifoon,  Spain,  might  have  lent  an  army  to  hum- 

Guthrie's  Geographical  Grammar,  fourteenth  London  editioE3 
p.  686. 


7S  HISTORY    OF   THE 

ble Portugal.  France,  in  themidft  of  peace,  might 
as  juftly  difembark  an  hundred  thoufand  men  at 
Plymouth  or  Dover,  to  humble  England,  Thus> 
in  all  ages,  has  the  moft  deteftable  fophiftry,  been 
exerted  to  vindicate  the  commencement  of  unjnft 
and  deftrudlivc  wars.  Guthrie  fays,  that  this  war 
coft  Tipoo  forty-nine  thoufand  men.  A  famine 
deftroyed  perhaps  ten  times  that  number.  Nothing 
but  the  wildeft  ignorance  of  hiftory  could  make 
our  citizens  believe  that  the  French  are  worfe  than 
their  neighbours.  It  is  of  the  higheft  importance 
to  remove  this  miftake,  which  has  become  fuch  a 
favourite  handle  of  party. 

Of  all  writers,   Burke  is  the  fitteft  to  be  quoted 

on  this  head.  ctl  never, "  lays  he,  "fhall  fo  far  in- 

<c  jure  the  janifarian  republic   of  Algiers  as  to  put 

<c  it  in  companion,  for  every  fort  of  crime,  turpi- 

u  tude,  and   oppreffion,  with   the  jacobin  republic 

u  of  Paris."    Yet,  when  fpeaking  of  England,  this 

author  has  afforded  a  iiill  more  complete  idea   of 

depravity.     4t  There  has  not  been  in  this  century 

c  any  foreign  peace  or  war,  in  its  origin,  the  fruit 

c  of  popular  defire,  except  the  war  that  was  made 

cc  with  Spain  in  1739."  [This  is  the  grand  aflertion 

of  Paine  that  government   dragged  England  into 

iiich  quarrels  for  the  fake  of  augmenting  public 

debt,   and  pillaging  the  public  purfe.     He  adds.] 

c  I  examined  the  original  documents. — They  per- 

c  fedlly  fatisfied  me  of  the  extreme  injuftice  of  that 

c  war.  [This  (hews  the  rooted  corruption  of  the 

c  people.]     Some    years    after,    it  was  my   for- 

ic  tune  to  converfe  with  many  of  the  principal  ac- 

cc  tors  againft  that  minifter  (Walpole),   and  with 

iv  thofc    who  .principally   excited    that    clamour. 

<c  None  of  them,  no  not  one,  did  in  the  leaft  defend 

c  the  meafure,  or  attempt  to  juftify  their  condutf. 

:  They  condemned  it  as  freely  as  they  would  have 


UNITED    STATES.  79 

cs  done  in  commenting  upon  any  proceeding  in  hi£ 
"  tory*."  Every  man  muft  fee  that  thefe  authors 
of  the  war  of  17  39,  were  as  execrable  as  the  French 
Directory  poilibly  can  be. 

This  is  a  fufftcient  reply  to  the  endlefs  barking 
of  Webfter  and  Camilltis  about  jacobin  principles* 
Let  us  add  one  word  more  about  this  war  of  1739. 
Guthrie  fays,  that  the  Englifli  took  three  thoufand 
four  hundred  and  thirty- four  prizes.  They  loft 
three  thoufand  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight.. 
Thus  we  learn  that  a  navy  cannot  protect  aii  exten- 
five  commerce.  Englifli  trade  has,  in  the  prefent 
ftruggle,  fuiFered  Hill  more  feverely.  A  Britifh 
navy  of  fix  hundred  fail  cannot  fecure  Britifh- (hip- 
ping. Six  frigates  have  an  hundred  times  lefs  ca- 
pability to  protect  the  commerce  of  America. 

In  1772,  an  enquiry  took  place  before  theHoufe 
of  Commons,  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  Eaft-India 
company.  Burgoyne  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. He  fays,  that  "  fuch  a  fcene  of  iniquity, 
u  rapine,  and  injustice,  fuch  unheard  of  cruelties, 
"  fuch  open  violations  of  every  rule  of  morality, 
a  every  tie  of  religion,  and  every  principle  of  good 
<c  government  was  never  before  discovered;  and 
"  that,  through  the  whole  of  the  investigation, 
u  he  could  not  find  a  fingle  fpot  whereon  to  lay  his, 
"  finger,  it  being  all  equally  one  mafs  of  mod  un- 
"  heard  of  villainies,  and  the  mod  notorious  cor- 
"  ruptiont."  This  pafTage  occurs  in  the  firfl  of 
more  than  three  hundred  pages,  all  in  the  fame  fcyle. 
By  accounts  tranfmitted  from  HafHngs,  it  was  pro- 
ved, that,  in  five  or  fix  years,  the  fervants  of  the 
company  had  deftroyed,  flarved,  or  driven  away, 
a  greater  number  of  people,  than  were  contained, 

*  Letter  I.  t  Evidences  of  our  tranfa&ions  in  the  Eafr* 

indies,  &P,  by  Mr,  Parker,  Printed  at  London  IR  1782, 


Bo  HISTORY    OF   THE 

collectively,  in  all  theBritifh  colonies.  After  fuch 
a  review  we  need  not  be  feared  at  the  cruelty  of 
jacobins. 

One  inceflant  reproach   to  the  French  has  been 

the  breach   of  public  credit.     Our  ally  is   defcen- 

ding,  with  hally  leaps,  to  the  fame  level.    On  the 

27th  of  February,  1/97,  the  privy  council  of  George 

the  third,  by  an  arbitrary  order,  forbade  the  bank 

of  England  cc  from   iifuing  any  cafli  in   payment, 

cc  until  the  fenfe  of  parliament  could  be  taken  on 

"  that  fuojech"  The  reafon  given  is,  an  apprehen- 

fion  of  wt  a  want  of  fuflicient    cafli  to  anfwer   the 

tl  exigencies  of  the  public  fervicc."  If  government 

had  forbidden  tiie    bank  to  pay  gold  and  filver  as 

the  intereit:  of  the  public   debt,  this  would  have 

been   no  worie  than    a  iimple   confellion   of  bank- 

'ruptCy.     But  they  flep  in  between  the  bank  and  its 

private  creditors,  and  fay,  ct  You  fhail  not  pay  your 

c  private  debts.  We  mufbhave  the  money  to  pay 

c  our  own  falaries,   and   to  fupport  our  ftanding 

"  armies  ;  to  defray  the  charge  of  barracks  built 

c  in  defiance  of  law  ;  and  to  clear  off  the  bills  of 

c  a  prince  who  has  defrauded  his  miflrefTes,  inful- 

c  ted    his  two  wives,  ivho  are  both  alive  *  /  hired 

c  pewfpapers   to  calumniate  his   mother,    and  at- 

c  tempted  to  keep  his  father  for  life  in  a  ftrait  wailt- 

tc  coat." 

Parliament  have  an  equal  right  to  interfere  between 
any  debtor  and  creditor  in  the  kingdom.  Thus, 
all  the  requiiitions  of  Robefpierre  are  rivalled  at  a 
fingle  ftroke.  With  equal  juftice  they  may  fay  to 
every  farmer,  cc  you  fhall  pay  no  rent  to  your  land- 
<c  lord/'7  Pitt  is  in  the  highway  to  fubflantiate 
Mr.  Sedgwick's  univerfal  afTeiTmentt.  No  legiila- 
ture  on  earth  ever  hazarded  a  more  glaring  act  of 

*  Britifh  Honour  and  Humanity,  \\  4^.     i  Sec  Appendix,  No.  II* 


UNITED    STATES.  8l 

Iniquity.  It  is  as  extenfive  in  its  operation,  as  de- 
tellable  in  its  objeft.  Every  individual  in  Britain 
will  feel  the  effects  of  this  ftoppage.  AlTociations 
of  bankers  and  manufacturers  may,  and  will  for  a 
time,  keep  np  the  price  of  paper  ;  but  the  firft  loan 
wanted  for  1/98,  will  ring  the  knell  to  its  inter- 
ment. 

The  aft  of  parliament  that  has  followed  this  or- 
der of  council,  afFefts,  in  a  tender  point,  the  mer- 
cantile interefl  of  the  United  States  ;  and,  as  (hall 
be  prefently  explained,  it  ftrikes  at  one  of  the  pil- 
lars of  the  Britifh  treaty.  Much  pains  are  employ- 
ed to  reprefent  it  as  of  a  temporary  nature,  and  to 
convince  the  public  that  credit  will  quickly  come 
round  to  the  former  fituation*.  On  this  account, 
it  cannot  be  regarded  as  defultory  to  ftate,  in  this 
place,  forne  decifive  fa<fts,  of  which  a  few  are  not 
generally  known  in  America. 

The  national  bankruptcy  of  England  is  not  a 
matter  which  has  come  fuddenly  to  a  crifis.  Its 
inevitable  approach  was  diftinclly  forefeen  and 
defcribed.  Mr.  William  Morgan,  an  eminent 
writer  on  Englifh  finances,  publifhed,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1796,  Fads  addrejjed  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain.  From  a  long  feries  of  arguments  and  cal- 
culations, the  following  particulars  have  been  a- 
bridged. 

Mr.  Pitt  eftimates  the  yearly  rents  of  all  the 
landed  eftates  in  Britain,  at  twenty-five  millions 

*  The  tories  who  fay  fo  do  not  believe  it.  The  rate  of  exchange 
on  England  was  formerly  above  par,  which  is  one  hundred  and  fixty- 
fixand  two  thirds  percent.  It  has  now  (May  loth,  1797?)  funk 
to  an  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  an  hundred  and  thirty.  When 
a  bill  returns  under  proteil  from  England,  the  indorfee  is  intitled  to 
twenty  per  cent,  of  damages.  People  now  refufe  to  grant  fuch  bills, 
unlefs  with  this  provifo,  that  they  mall  not  be  liable  to  the  ufual  pe- 
nalty of  non-payment, 

M 


82  HISTORY    OF   THE 

ilerling.  But  the  land  tax,  at  four  (hillings  in  the 
pound,  though  comprehending  houfes,  places,  and 
penfions,  gives  only  one  million  nine  hundred  thou- 
land  pounds.  Mr.  Morgan  believes  that  the  yearly 
rents  do  not  exceed  eighteen  millions.  ''lie  ac- 
tual cxpenies  wanted,  in,  1796,  even  for  a  peace 
eftablifliment,  were  twenty-two  millions.  Thus, 
even  a  year  ago,  the  public  taxes  were  equal  to 
the  whole  landed  rents  of  Britain.  It  was,  howe- 
ver, found  difficult  or  impoflible  to  raife  the  twen- 
ty* two  millions  eiTential  for  the  national  credit, 
even  fuppofing  that  the  war  had  ended  in  January, 
1796.  In  February,  1795,  taxes  were  laid  to  the 
expected  amount  of  fixteen  hundred  and  forty-five 
thoufand  pounds.  In  December  following,  others 
were-alfo  propojed  to  the  amount  of  eleven  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  thoufand  pounds.  Yet  the 
intereil  of  many  millions  of  debt  flill  remained  to 
be  provided  for.  From  the  firft  eftablifliment  of 
the  confoliclated  fund,  in  1786,  till  the  commence- 
ment of  the  prefent  war,  the  expenditure  invaria- 
bly exceeded  the  revenue.  The  deficiencies  in  the 
iix  years  preceding  the  war,  amounted  to  nearly 
ieven  millions  fterling.  The  blank  was  fupplied 
by  loans,  and  extraordinary  but  cafual  receipts. 
In  the  firft  three  years  of  the  war,  new  taxes  were 
.laid  to  the  amount  of  about  four  millions,  and  ftill 
the  annual  deficiencies  increafed.  In  1795,  tne7 
came  nearly  to  two  millions.  "  It  is  probable,  there- 
*c  fore,"  fays  Mr.  Morgan,  u  that  annual  loans 
"  will  become  neceilary,  in  future,  to  provide  for 
<4  the'ordinary  expences  of  a  peace  eflablifliment  ; 
ct  and  thefe  .loans,  by  requiring  new  taxes,  will 
a  produce  further  deficiencies  ;  fo  that,  by  borrow- 
tc  ing  each  year,  not  only  to  pay  the  deficiencies  of 
"  the  preceding  year,  but  a  lib  the  intereft  on  the 
*c  deficiencies  in  former  years,  the  national  debt 


UNITED    STATES,  83 

"  v/ill  be  inereafing,  at  compound  interen%  in  the 
"  fame  manner  as  it  is  reduced  ;  but  with  this 
"  alarming  difference,  that  the  operations  in  the 
"  one  cafe,  are  ten  times  more  powerful  than  in 
u  the  other.  If  thefe  are  likely  to  be  the  effects 
u  of  the  public  debt,  with  the  expenditure  only  of 
cc  a  peace  eftablifhment,  or  on  the  fuppofition  that 
<c  the  war  were  immediately  clofed,  what  muft  be 
"  the  confequences  of  obflinately  perfifting  in  a 
u  fyftem  of  profufion,  which,  if  long  continued-,, 
'  would  ruin  any  country,  however  unimpaired 
cc  its  flrength  and  refources  ?" 

Men  who  defire  ufeful  knowledge  will  not  tire 
of  this  quotation.  It  is  certainly  better  entertain- 
ment than  to  ring  invidious  changes  on  the  purity* 
of  Conneel'icut #,  and  the  wickednefs  of  Virginia* 
Since  thefe  remarks  were  publilhed  by  Mr.  Mor- 
gan, a  campaign  has  elapfed  more  difaftrous,  if 
poflible,  to  England,  than  any  of  the  former.  Her 
fituation  has,  uniformly,  funk  from  bad  to  worfe. 
What,  in  the  end  of  1795,  was  but  expectation^ 
has,  in  1797,  been  converted  into  hiftory*  Many 
people  in  America  feem  to  be  intoxicated  with  the 
iuperior  information  and  abilities  of  Mr.  Hamilton. 
The  extravagant  predictions  and  affertions.  of  him- 

*  The  hiftory  of  the  new  ftate-houfe  at  Hartford,  exhibits  a  de~ 
leftable  fpecimen  of  this  commodity.  The  aflembly  pofleffcd  a 
claim  on  the  ftate  of  New- York  for  almoft  fifteen  hundred  thoufand 
acres  of  land,  which  are  worth  three  or  four  millions  of  dollars.  In 
1795,  t^le7  f°^  tnis  claim  fc>r  a  few  thoufand  pounds,  to  a  private 
company.  See  American  Annual  Regilter,  chap.  x.  If  they  be- 
Heved  their  title  to  be  groundlefs,  they  were  no  better  than  a  g;mg 
of  coiners,  who  fell  bad  (hillings  at  half  price.  If  the  law-fuit  of 
this  company  fhall  be  fuccefsful,  New-York  will  hardly  fubrnit  to 
the  deciiion,  but  on  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Thus  it  follows,  that 
for  the  dirty  confideration  of  a  few  thoufand  pounds,  the  legiilature 
ci  Connecticut  has  put  the  union  in  danger  oh  a  civil  war.  With 
thefe  fads  before  their  eyes,  and  with  an  effrontery  that  tranfcends 
aJl  dcfcription,  many  writers  extol  the  fuperlativc  fcdcralifm 


84  HISTORY   OF  THE 

felf,  and  his  auxiliaries,  about  Britifti  pride,  and 
power,  and  opulence,  have  become  too  clefpicable 
for  refutation.  If  Camillus  really  believed  what 
he  wrote  refpefting  them,  he  muft  have  been  ve- 
ry ignorant.  If  he  knew  more  than  he  chofe  to 
tell,  his  conduft  demands  a  harfher  name.  Ano- 
ther citation  from  Mr.  Morgan  will,  perhaps,  re- 
pay a  perufal. 

"  The  competition  of  rapacious  loan-mongers  to 
<c  fhare  in  the  fpoils  of  the  country,   fupported  by 

c  the  fictitious  credit  of  paper-money,  may  perhaps 

c  enable  the  minifter  to  triumph  in  the  facility  with 
cc  which  the  public  debts  are  accumulated,  and  the 
"  temporiiing  expedient  of  ineffectual  taxation  may 
"  ferve  him  as  a  proof  of  our  inexhauftible  re- 

c  iources  to  provide  for  thofe  taxes  ;  but  a  fyftem 
"  founded  upon  deluflon,  muft  end  in  difappoint- 

c  ment  and  ruin.  It  was  the  boaft  of  a  French 
"  minifter  of  finance,  that  the  American  war  was 

c  carried  on  during  his  adminiftration,  without 
<c  impofing  a  new  tax  upon  the  French  people  ;  and 

c  it  was  this  very   circumftance  which  produced 

neclicut ;  and  poor  Samuel  Dexter,  as  one  of  his  reafons  for  fup- 
poiting  the  fugar  and  fnuffexcife,  fald  in  Congrefs,  in  1794*  that 
all  the  members  of  that  ftate  voted  for  it. 

If  from  the  afiembly  thcmfelves,  we  turn  to  their  conftituentSj 
the  profpecl  does  not  improve  The  fale  of  thefe  fifteen  hundred 
thcufand  acres,  if  the  ftate  had  a  real  right  to  them,  was  an  aft  of 
outrageous  robbery  on  their  fellow  citizens  ;  it  was  a  fecond  Yazoo 
imfmefs.  When  the  people  of  Georgia  found  their  property  invaded, 
they  elected  a  new  aflembly,  erafed  the  fwindling  law  from  the  pub- 
lic records,  proclaimed  its  infamous  authors,  and  ordered  their  at- 
torney-general to  profecute  fenator  James  Gunn,  as  one  of  the  con- 
fpir-itors.  This  was  acting  like  men ;  but  the  citizens  of  Connecti- 
cut, when  in  a  fimilar  iltuation,  truckle  under  legiflative  treachery; 
while  Pelham,  and  Trumbull,  and  Webfter,  and  a  fwarm  of  other 
fcribblers  from  that  quarter,  rack  their  ingenuity  in  reviling,  as  a 
race  of  inferior  and  degraded  beings,  the  people  of  the  fouthem 
Hates. 


UNITED    STATES.  85 

u  the  revolution.  He  borrowed  immenfe  fums  an- 
IC  nually,  and  endeavoured  to  provide  for  them  by 
cc  the  ineffectual  means  of  economy  ;  for,  in  that 
cc  country,  taxation  had  then  arrived  at  its  limits. 
cc  A  fyftem  of  economy,  under  a  government  which 
"  exifted  by  corruption,  necefFary  failed.  New 
"  loans  became  necelTary  to  pay  the  intereft  of  for- 
*c  mer  loans.  The  mafs  of  debt  continued  to  ac- 
"  cumulate,  till  at  length  it  overwhelmed  public 
u  credit,  and  buried  the  government  in  its  ruins.7' 
As  the  government  and  the  bank  of  England  can- 
not at  prefent  command  fpecie,  the  next  queftion 
is,  at  what  time,  or  from  what  fource,  have  they 
a  profpeft  of  getting  it  ?  The  debts  of  the  former 
are  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  millions  fter- 
ling.  Paine  guelTes  the  paper  of  the  bank  of  En- 
gland at  ilxty  millions.  Several  other  great  banks  ' 
had  ftopt  before  it,  and  the  banks  of  Scotland  and 
that  of  Ireland,  have  flopt  fince.  In  an  affair  of 
uncertainty,  but  of  enormous  magnitude,  we  may 
conjecture  that  eighty  millions  fterling,  in  bank  notes 
have  been  blocked  up.  This  added  to  the  debt  will 
make  four  hundred  and  fixty  millions.  Oppofed 
to  this  world  of  paper,  George  Chalmers,  an  autho- 
rity to  be  trailed  in  this  cafe,  fays,  that  the  Britifli 
dominions  have  a  circulation  of  twenty  millions  in 
gold  and  filver.  Thus  credit  (lands  like  an  inver- 
ted pyramid,  of  which  paper  is  the  bafe.  But 
fince  that  calculation,  the  quantity  of  hard  money 
has  been  reduced.  Befides,  every  guinea,  and  eve- 
ry fixpence,  will  now  hide  itfelf.  Suppofe  that 
the  bank  has  at  prefent  in  its  coffers  twro  millions 
fterling,  and  that  this  money  is  to  be  refer ved  for 
public  exigencies.  Two  months  only  of  the  ap- 
proaching campaign  will  exhauft  it.  The  cafh 
will  dive  into  the  pockets  of  thofe  who  furnifh  the 
fupplics,  and  they  will  hold  it,  with  the  gripe  of 


86  HISTORY    OF    THE 

::,th,  till  the  alarm  has  become  to  an  ifTiie.  It  is 
hard  to  fee  from  whence  money  can  be  expeftech 
The  emperor  will  not  replace  his  wages.  In  the 
mean  while,  confidence  rnnd  by  degrees  decline. 
^Traclefmen  mud  be  thrown  idle,  from  the  want  of 
a  proper  medium  to  pay  them  ;  and,  after  every  ex- 
pedient has  been  tried,  an  univerfal  bankruptcy 
will  enfue,  Unlefs  France  (hall  grant  England  a 
peace,  the  campaign  of  1798  will  require  another 

••n.  Paper  cannot  be  lent  to  the  Eaft  and  Weft- 
Indies,  even  were  its  character  found  at  home.  The 
precious  metals  cannot  be  had,  and  public  credit 
will  of  neceflity  expire.  We  fee  that  fix  years  be- 
fore the  war,  the  minider  after  every  exertion, 
was  annually  borrowing  great  part  of  a  million: 

rling  to  pay  the  intereft  of  old  debts.  This 
practice  alone  would,  in  time,  have  produced  infol- 
vency  ;  but,  when  there  is  funeradded  the  hidory 
of  the  lad  four  years,  probability  rifes  to  demon- 
frration.  In  1791,  Mr.  Rayment  publifhed  a 
flatement  of  the  number  of  the  public  creditors  of 
England,  taken  from  the  books.  It  amounted  to 
an  hundred  and  twenty-feven  thoufand  three  hun- 
dred and  one  perfons.  About  an  hundred  and  twen- 
ty or  thirty  millions  ft.erlin.jg  have  been  added  ta 
'the  debt,  fo  that  we  may  now  compute  the  credi- 
ts as  being  at  lead  an  hundred  and  fixty  thoufand. 
The  bankruptcies  of  1793  came  perhaps  to  twenty 
millions  fterling.  Thofe  made  by  the  doppage  of 
paper  money  will  be  at  lead  twenty  times  greater. 
F.vcry  man  in  Britain,  who  is  worth  five  guineas, 
will  be  affected  more  or  lefs.  The  fliock  mull 
com  ul  fe  every  nerve  in  the  mafs  of  property .  Thus 

:ch  for  Britifli  credit.  We  now  come  to  apply 
thefe  remarks  with  refpect  to  Jay's  treaty.  The 

Hiv.lclphian    addrefs  to  the  Preiident,   thanking- 

i   for  having   figned  it,  fpeaks   of"  indemnity 


UNITED    STATES  87 

4<  (the  Subscribers  meant  to  Say  indemnification) 
"  therein  llipulated  for  pajl  lojjes"  The  New- 
York  chamber,  in  their  reSolutions  of  the  2ifl  of 
July,  1795,  congratulate  themfelves  on  u  a  fair 
^  compenjation  for  the  (poliations  upon  our  com- 
ic  merce/'  Curtins  in  his  fourth  letter,  trufts  that 
"  juft  claims  will  be  fupported,  andjuft  damages 
*'  paid  !"  The  fifteenth  number  of  Camillus  is  oc- 
cupied on  this  Subject.  He  quotes  the  Seventh  ar- 
ticle of  the  treaty,  by  which,  referring  to  the  pira- 
cies on  American  commerce,  tc  his  Britannic  ma- 
"  jefty  undertakes  to  caufe  the  fame  to  be  paid  to 
"  Such-claimant  in  Jpecie,  without  any  deduction," 
after  the  amount  has  been  aScertained.  "The  plan," 
u  Says  Camillus,  u  affords  a  moral  certainty  of 'Sub- 
u  ftantial  juftice.— The  indemnification  which  may 
"  be  awarded,  is  to  be  paid  fully,  immediately, 
ic"and  without  de  tour  by  the  Britifh  government 
ic  itfelf.  Say  ye  impartial  and  enlightened,  if  all 
<c  this  be  not  as  it  ought  to  have  been  !" 

In  fhort,  the  hope  of  recovering  payment  for  the 
mips  and  cargoes  was  the  greatell:  caufe  for  the 
treaty  becoming  popular  among  American  mer- 
chants. Its  advocates  inceflantly  held  out  this  ar- 
ticle as  an  object  of  exultation.  When  handling 
it  Camillus  riles  above  his  wonted  compofure,  and 
one  apoflrophe  may  well  enough  anfwer  another. 
ic  Say  ye  impartial  and  enlightened,  after  the  pre- 
u  ceding  explanation  of  Englifh  finances,  do  ye  ex~ 
cc  pect  one  farthing  from  the  king  of  England  ?  Do 
<c  ye  fancy  that  a  monarch  who  is  fifteen  months 
c  in  arrears  to  the  wench  who  fcours  his  water 
u  clofet*,  whofe  government  is  three  hundred 

*  On  the  1 8th  of  April,  1796,  Mr.  Grey  faid  in  parliament,  that 
the  civil  lift  was  FIVE  QUARTERS  in  arrears.  George  the  Third  has 
many  millions  ilerling  at  command.  His  refuting  to  pay  thcfe  ar* 
rears,  proves  him  to  be  one  of  the  rneaneft  beings  that  ever  diAjraced 
human  nature, 


83  HISTORY  OF   THE 

c  and  eighty  millions  fterling  in  debt,  and  who  can 
"  pay  its  intereft  in  nothing  but  paper,  do  ye  fancy 
"  tiiat  fuch  a  perfon  will  lend  over  his  money  to 
"  indemnify  American  merchants." 

Dr.  Ames,  in  his  renowned  fpeech  in  Congrefs 
on  the  treaty,  delivered  himfelf  with  more  caution. 
44  Five  millions  of  dollars/'  faid  he,  "  and  proba- 
"  bly  more,  on  the  fcore  of  fpoliations  committed 
'*  on  our  commerce,  depend  upon  the  treaty.  The 
"  treaty  offers  the  only  profpecl  of  indemnity*.  Such 
M  redrefs  is  promifed  as  the  merchants  place  Jomc 
"  confidence  in.  Will  you  interpofe  and  fruftrate 
"  that  hope !"  That  hope,  to  borrow  the  ftyle  of 
Bunyan,  hath  fince  arrived  in  doubting  caflle,  and 
will  foon  be  in  the  grafp  of  giant  dejpair. 

One  feels  lefs  for  the  misfortunes  of  fbme  of  the 
merchants  on  account  of  their  ingratitude  to  their 
feamen.  The  neglect  of  Jay  to  fecure  an  article 
in  favour  of  thefe  people,  even  when  it  was  offered 
by  Grenville,  has  already  been  ftatecl  to  thepublict. 
It  was  difgraceful  to  have  accepted  of  fuch  a  treaty 
at  all,  without  an  ample  compenfation  to  every  one 
of  thefe  men,  who  had  been  imprifoned,  hand-cuf- 
fed, (tarved  and  fiogged,  while  acting  in  American 
lervice.  The  printed  refolutions  of  the  chamber 
of  commerce  at  New- York  and  Bofton  approve  the 
treaty  in  general  terms,  without  the  fmalleft  notice 
of  this  infamous  omiffion;  The  indemnity  addre£- 
fers  of  Philadelphia  drop  not  one  word  of  alarm  or 
iympathy  for  the  dangers  or  fufferings  of  fbme 
thoufancis  of  mariners.  On  the  i/jth  of  April, 
1797,  alfo,  when  the  merchants  of  Philadelphia 

*  This  \vord  me'nns  only  pardon  for  a  crime.  Tl\us,  when  Charles 
the  Second  figned  the  aft  of  oblivion  and  indemnity,  the  cavaliers 
called  it  an  ad  of  oblivion  to  his  friends,  and  indemnity  to  his  ene- 
mies. 

t  Britifn  honour  and  humanity,  p.  41. 


•*•    UNITED    STATES.  89 

preferred  an  addrcfs  to  Congrefs  in  favour  of  the 
treaty,  that  paper  contains  not  one  glimmering  of 
compaflion  or  even  of  reference  to  the  fuilerings  of 
their  fearnen.  Five  millions  of  dollars,  and  "the 
"  principal  part  of  their  remaining  fortunes  "  form 
the  excluuve  burden  of  the  fong.  Never  did  the 
fordid  ipirit  of  mercantile  adventure  difplay  itfclf 
i:i  more  repulfive  colours.  Woe  be  to  that  coun- 
try \vhofe  counfels  are  governed  by  merchants,  or 
by  priefts  !  When  the  Senate  faw  an  article  about 
t he  Weft  Indian  trade  which  they  did  not  like,  they 
refufed  to  accept  it.  But  they  overlooked  this- 
hideous  chafin  about  feamen,  though  in  every  view 
of  juftice,  honour,  humanity,  and  even  of  commer- 
cial intereft,  it  was  by  many  degrees  more  impor- 
tant than  the  other.  This  is  precifely  the  way  in 
which  Congrefs  and  the  country  have  treated  then- 
old  continental  foldiers  ;  fo  that  no  part  of  our  en- 
lightened citizens  has  a  title  to  condemn  the  reft. 

It  may  be  anfwered,  but  what  could  you  do  /  The 
reply  is  ready.  The  immediate  reftoration  of  every, 
American  feaman,  or  a  ferious  and  vigorous  effort  to 
that  end,  fhould  have  been  demanded  and  obtained, 
before  making  a  (ingle  claufeof  any  treaty.  Farther, 
every  one  of  them  mould  have  received  a  liberal 
compenfation  for  the  time  during  which  they  had 
been  confined  in  Britifli  vefTels.  We  have  not  heard 
of  fuch  compenfation  being  dither  given,  or  fought. 
If  any  fcruple  was  to  be  entertained  on  the  part  of 
Britain  about  making  fuch  reparation,  it  contradic- 
ted common  reafbn  to  believe  that  negociation  with 
inch  people  could  end  in  fatisfaclion.  Figure  the 
cafe  that  a  crimp  kidnaps  your  fon  on  the  ftreets  of 
London,  and  fends  him  to  the  Earl  Indies  as  a  re- 
cruit. This  offender  owns  the  fa£l,  and  without 
engaging  to  reftore  the  young  man,  he  afks  you  to 
entqr  into  an  agreement  for  a  freight  of  cotton  or 

N 


po  HISTORY    OF   THE 

tobacco.  You  would  not  liflen  to  fuch  a  propofal 
till  iecurity  was  given  for  the  redemption  of  your 
Con  •  or,  if  you  did  liflen,  the  whole  world  would 
pronounce  you  an  unnatural  barbarian.  Of  Britifh 
imprelfinents,  the  following  inftance  is  not,  perhaps, 
worfe  nor  better  than  an  hundred  others.  It  is  in~ 
ferted  merely  as  a  lam  pie. 

On  the  29th  of  July,  I795S  Cyprian  Cook,  mafter 
of  the  {loop  Grills,  of  Norwich,  in  Connecticut,  and 
Elijah  Clarke,  a  pafTenger  in  the  vefTel,  emitted  cle- 
poiitions  at  New-London,  of  which  here  follows  an 
-abridgement.  On  the  4th  of  July,  preceding,  the 
Crifis,  and, above  twenty  other  American  veiTels 
were  lying  at  anchor  in  the  port  of  Jeremie,  in 
Hifpaniola.  The  Hermione,  an  Englifh  frigate, 
came  into  the  port,  anchored,  and  fent  her  boats 
to  board  the  Americans.  Every  man  in  the  vefTels, 
was  taken  away,  excepting  the  captains  and  mates. 
They  were,  to  the  number  of  fixty  or  feventy,  kept 
on  board  and  fading,  during  forty-eight  hours. 
They  were  examined,  one  by  one,  and  five  only 
were  difmhTed,  becaufe,  as  the  Englifh  captain  ob- 
ferved,  they  were  unfit  for  fervice.  Allthefe  men 
were  Americans  born,  excepting  two  Danes,  who 
had  been  naturalized  here.  This  outrage  happen- 
ed f even  months  and  an  half  after  flgning  of  the 
treaty  ;  and  it  fhews  how  fmcerely  England  defpifed 
our  envoy  and  thofe  who  fent  him.  Tame  fub- 
mifTion  to  fuch  treatment  was  the  very  excefs  of 
national  difgrace.  But,  after  Jay  had  declined  to 
write  an  article  in  favour  of  our  failors,  they  were 
fure  of  meeting  with  the  worft  ufage.  It  is  ftrange 
that  Jay  did  not  burn  the  copy  of  his  card,  making 
a  demand  in  their  behalf,  and  of  the  conienting  re- 
ply of  Grenville.  The  Prefident  had  very  good  rea- 
ibn  to  be  afhamed  of  laying  fuch  a  correfpondence 
before  the  Houfe  of  ReprefenUtives.  it  is  fuppo- 


UNITED    STATES.  $1 

fed  that  Tome  thoufands  of  American  feamen  have 
been  treated  like  the  above  at  port  Jeremie*. 

Camillas,  in  No.  vi.  points  out  many  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  a  complete  protection  for  our  mari- 
ners. It  is  Jikely  enough  that  the  article,  if  infer- 
ted,  would  have  been  broken ;  and  real  difficulties 
might  have  occurred  in  the  bufmefs.  But  even  de- 
corum required  fuch  a  claufe.  Camillus  has  ad- 
vanced fome  alTertions  that  are  abfolutely  untrue. 
He  fays  that  "  Great  Britain  has  accordingly  per- 
"  feveringly  declined  any  definitive  arrangement  o» 
"  the  fubje&  ;  notwithftanding  earned  and  reitera- 
"  ted  efforts  of  our  government. — Our  minifter 
"  plenipotentiary,  Mr.  Pinckney,  it  is  well  known, 
"  has  long  had  this  matter  in  charge,  and  has  fire- 
"  nuoufly  exerted  himfelf  to  have  it  placed  upon 
"  fome  acceptable  footing ;  but  his  endeavours  have 

*  Some  Englifh  newfpapers  of  1796,  fay,  that  the  prefs  gangs  em- 
ployed in  Britain,  amount  to  nine  thoufand  men.  A  great  part  of  thefe 
fellows  are  therhfelves  failors,  and  every  one  of  them,  from  the  na- 
ture of  the  fervice,  mud  be  robuil  arid  able-bodied.  Their  fituation 
requires  better  vVages,  and  better  living,  than  that  of  a  foot  foldier. 
They  can  hardly^oft.the  country  lefs,  in  one  fh ape  or  other,  than 
two  (hillings  fterling  per  day.  On  (hip  board,  or  in  ufeful  manu- 
factures, they  would  be  worth  at  leaft  an  equal  Turn.  Thus  each  of 
thefe  kidnappers  finks  daily  four  millings  iterling,  which,  between 
pofitive  and  negative  lofs,  they  might  expend  or  earn  for  fociety. 
Nine  thoufand  men,  at  a  lofs  of  four  millings  per  head,  make  a  fink- 
ing fund  of  eighteen  hundred  pounds  fterling  a  day.  This,  multi- 
plied by  the  number  of  days  in  a  year,  gives  fix  hundred  and  fifty- 
feven  thoufand  pounds  per  annum,  for  the  charge  of  prefs  gangs.  It 
is  an  ordinary  computation  in  Britain,  that  every  imprefled  maneofts, 
upon  a  medium,  an  hundred  pounds  fterling,  before  he  is  got  into 
a&ual  fervice. 

Yet,  in  fpite  of  this  ft  range  work,  in  order  to  man  her  navy,  the 
queen  of  ifles  labours  under  the  greateft  difficulty  for  hands,  that  fhe 
has  perhaps  ever  known.  To  prefs  American  feamen  is  very  con- 
iiltent  with  her  Algerine  code  of  morality,  but  entirely  repugnant  to 
her  common  maxims  vi  policy.'  Theexclulion  of  foreign  mariners 
from  iier  ports  and  (hipping,  is  the  great  object  of  her  act  of  naviga- 
tion. Her  breach  of  it  ariies  from  neceffity  more  tjian  choice. 


9«  HISTORY    OF    THE 

"  been  unfucceisful."  By  Thorn  as  Pi  = 
his  efforts,  we  need  not  fet  much  ilorc.  While 
France  vva;  in  the  very  adt  of  driving  the  allies 
to  perdition,  Jay,  by  the  mod  abllird,  or  pcT/I- 
dions  nnfcondiict,  put  his  hand  to  the  treaty,  when, 
if  he  had  only  waited  ii.-  till  the  approaching 

conquer!:  of  Holland  h.id  been  completed,  lie  might 
have  had  almoR  any  U'nri3  worth  afking.  Pinckncy 
was  filly  enough  to  .  *  of  his  management  iu 

making  fo  good  a  bargain.  I  Neither  of  thefe  pre- 
cious envoy,  would  buy  largely  in  the  funds,  when 
there  was  a  cer&rhttyof  their  tumbling.  Yet  they 
clapped  up  a  treaty,  when  every  moment  of  delay 
was  ineftimable  to  America.  This'  is  the  fcanda- 
lous  '  h  cur  bulincls  hath  been  tranfacled. 

The  airair  had  hung  over  ten  years,   and  then  was 
:ed  at  a  mom  en  t  of  iniinite  impropriety.   Such 
miferable  be,:  the  world  has  probably  never 

feen  before. 

Camillas  forefaw  the  objeclion  as  to  the  very  nn- 
feafonable  period  of  figning  the  treaty.  In  No.  vii. 
he  defends  it  thus.  u  It  will  be  nfeful  to  go  back  to 
"  the  periods  when  the  negocistion  began  and  en- 
"  cled.  Our  envoy  arrived  in  England,  and  enter- 
"  ed  upon  the  bufinefs  of  his  miHion,  at  the  mo- 
<{  ment  when  there  was  a  general  elation  or. 
"  account  of  the  naval  victory  gained  by  Lord 
[t  Howe,  and  previous  tothofe  important  fucceffcs, 
<:  \vhich  have  terminated  in  the  conqueft  of  Holland  ; 
i  the  treaty  was  concluded  by  the  ipth  of  No- 
"  vember  laft,  prior  to  the  laft  mentioned  event, 
"  and  the  defeaion  of  the  king  of  Pruflla.  The 
"  poflureof  things  at  the  time  oi  the  negociatiou, 
"  and  not  at  'this  tin:?,  is  the  frandard  to  try  its 
"  merits/' 

It  will  indeed  be  ufefultopo  back;  for  every  line  of 
this  argument  is  contradicted  by  undifputed  fadts. 


UNITED    STATES.  93. 

The  Prefulent's  meffage  to  Congrefs  about  his  having 
appointed  Jay,  wsis  dated  the  i6th  of  April,  1794- 
The  king  of  Pruilia,  in  the  beginning  of  that  month, 
had  published  a  curious  manifefto  Mating  his  rea- 
ibns  for  quitting  his  allies.  Pitt  'afterwards  gave 
him  twelve  hundred  thousand  pounds  to  make  him 
return  to  the  combat.  He  took  the  money,  but 
never  performed  his  promife.  Inftead  of  that,  he 
went  into  Poland  to  beliege  Wariaw.  He  left  in- 
deed his  quota  as  a  prince  of  the  German  empire  ; 
but  they  alib  were  annihilated,  along  with  an  Au£- 
trian  army,  at  Kaifcrllautern,  in  a  battle  which  lafted 
incluiively  night  and  day,  from  the  I2th  to  the  I5th 
of  July,  1794;  *n  the  enc^  trie  republicans  plunged 
through  the  loaded  Pruflian  batteries  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  Surely,  Mr.  Hamilton  imagines  that 
nobody  reads  newfpapers  except  himfelf.  In  No- 
vember, 1794,  v-r^'en  Jay  figned  this  paper,  Frede- 
ric William  had,  for  many  months,  been  abufed 
in  the  daily  prints  of  London,  as  a  deferter  fr'om 
the  caufe  of  morality,  and  regular  government. 
Thus  Carnillus  fta'nds  detected  of  an  intentional 
and  notorious  falfehoocl. 

As  to  the  general  elation  about  lord  Howe's 
victory,  the  French  were  equally  fatisfiecl,  and  with 
better  reafon.  An  American  am balFacior  ought  to 
have  been  poffefled  of  more  penetration  than  the 
porters  and  chairmen  whom  Pitt  or  his  runners  hi- 
red, upon  that  joyful  occafion,  to  break  the  win- 
dows of  John  Wilkes  and  lord  Stanhope. 

Again,  Camillus  fays  that  jay  entered  upon  the 
bufmefs  of  his  million  previous  to  thoje  important 
Jucce/Jes  ivhich  terminated  in  the  conqnefi  of  Holland* 
This  is  another  flupendovis  untruth,  like  that  about 
the  king  of  PruHia.  A  few  facts  and  dates  will 
prove  it  to  be  fo.  On  the  26th  of  April,  1794., 
Pichegru  totally  beat  Clairfait  at  Moucron,  and 


£4  HISTORY    OF    THE 

killed  fix  thonfand  of  his  troops.  In  the  conrfe  of  a 
few  weeks,  a  number  of  other  delperate  battles  en- 
fued.  The  allies  did  whatever  brave  men,  and 
able  officers  could  do  ;  but  the  French/  by  their 
numbers,  their  enthudafm,  and  their  talents,  fair- 
ly drove  them  out  of  "The  field.  So  early  as  the 
ipth  of  May,  1794,  t^ie  emperor  printed  an  addrefs 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Bruffels,  in  a  tone  almoil  as 
dejected  as  the  king  of  Pruilia's  farewell  m an ifefto. 
The  armies  continued  almoft  conftantly  fighting  till 
the  26th  of  June,  when  the  French  gained  the  battle 
of  Fleurus.  This  completely  turned  the  fc ale.  The 
grand  Auilrian  army  immediately  fent  off  their 
baggage,  and,  in  the  courfe  of  a  few  days,  thirty 
thoufand  people  fled  from  BrmTels.  From  that  day 
forward  every  man  in  England,  excepting  Jay, 
multhaveforefeen  the  conqueft  of  Holland.  Though 
Jay  had  entered  upon  the  bufinefs  of  his  miffion  be- 
fore the  fate  of  Flanders  was  decided,  it  was  his 
duty  to  have  {pun  out  the  bufmefs  and  to  have  ta- 
ken the  utmoit  advantage  of  that  invaluable  con- 
tingency. Cainilius,  by  advancing,  in  Jay's  de- 
fence, the  above  palpable  fictions,  has  expoied  with- 
out reinforcing  the  weaknefs  bf  the  cauie. 

But  Camillas  mould  alfo  have  defended  the  .Se- 
nate of  Congrefs.  They  certainly  did  not  approve 
of  the  treaty  till  after  the  defection  of  the  king  of 
Prtiffia,  and  the  furrender  of  Amfterdam.  They 
did  not  ratify  till  the  24th  of  June,  1795.  *n  tne 
ribove  quotation,  Camillus  plainly  implies,  that,  af- 
ter the  defection  and  reduttiony  &c.  better  terms 
might  have  been  had.  The  queflion  then  comes 
to  be  iv  hy  the  Senate  did  not  ftand  out  to  get  them  f 
They  fent  back  an  article.  They  fliould  have  amen- 
ded and  fent  back  others.  The  true  reafon  was, 
ifirft,  that  fome  of  the  Senators  were  ferionfly  and 
fubftantially  ignorant  about  the  real  flate  of  politics 


UNITED    STATES.  95 

in  Europe  ;  for,  after  the  reduction  of  the  feven 
United  Provinces,  a  fear  of  England  attacking  Ame- 
rica was  "  but  the  eye  of  childhood  ;  that  fears  a 
cc  painted  devil/'  Secondly,  the  ratification  was 
an  objecfc  of  party.  Jay  had  been  fent  over  in  de£ 
plte  of  a  majority  in  the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives  ; 
and  to  have  refufed  the  ratification  of  a  treaty  plan- 
ned under  the  aufpic.es  of  Mr.  Hamilton,would  have 
calt  irrecoverable  ridicule  on  their  whole  connec- 
tions. For  this  reafon  twenty  fenators,  lefs  par- 
donable, if  fiich  a  thing  can  be,  than  Jay  himtelf, 
agreed  to  what  he  had  done  ;  and,  as  Junius  ob- 
ferves,  cc  though  royal  favour  cannot  remove  moun- 
<f  tains  of  infamy,  it  undoubtedly  lejjens^  for  it  di-* 
<c  vides  the  bur  den ." 

But,  independent  of  French  vi&ories,  Jay  muft 
have  known  that  Pitt,  from  his  dreadful  want  of 
money,  could  not  hold  out  for  any  confiderable 
time.  Much  has  been  faid  as  to  the  danger  of  Eng- 
land (forfooth !)  declaring  war  againfh  the  United 
States.  To  (hew  the  dreadful  plight  that  flie  was 
in,  the  following  particulars  are  taken  from  a  fe- 
ries  of  refblutions  read  in  the  houfe  of  commons  by 
Mr.  Smith,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1796. 

In  September,  1795,  Walter  Boycl,  junior,  waff 
requefted  by  Pitt  to  advance  him  a  million  fterling. 
-  He' did  fo,  and  by  agreement,  he  was  to  draw  bills 
on  the  lords  commiilioners  of  the  treafury,  which 
they  were  to  accept.  Now  comes  the  aftonifhing 
part  of  the  tranfaclion.  Bills  for  feven  hundred 
thoufand  pounds  were  drawn  in  London,  bearing 
a  falfe  date  at  Hamburgh,  fever  al  weeks  pre- 
ceding the  real  time  of  framing  them.  Walter 
Boyd  is  not  engaged  in  any  houfe  of  bufinefs  at 
Hamburgh,  fo  that  he  might  as  well  have  preten- 
ded to  draw  bills  from  the  moon.  Thefe  forge* 
;,  profefling  to  be  foreign  bills,  were  written 


96  HISTORY    OF    THE 

upon  undamped  paper.  cc  They  were,"  fays  Mr, 
Smith,  "  of  fuch  a  nature  and  defcription,  as  the 
cc  bank  of  England  would  have  refilled  to  difcoun't 
"  for  any  commercial  hcufe  whatever,  and  fuch 
cc  as  it  would  have  been  injurious  to  the  credit  of 
tc  any  private  lioufe,  to  have  negociated."  Thefe 
are  civil  words,  but,  in  plain  Englifb,  any  other 
parties  of  fuch  a  plot,  but  the  minifter  and  his 
friends,  would  infallibly  have  been  hanged. 

It  was  plain  that  a  government  adopting  fuch  in- 
famous expedients  to  raile  money,  mud  have  been 
upon  its  lad  legs.  With  fuch  facls  in  view,  it  is 
amazing  how  completely  ibme  of  the  ableil  men  in 
America  were  deceived  about  it.  Of  all  the  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  the  BritHh  treaty,  none  was 
more  loudly  repeated  than  the  clanger  of  a  war  with 
Britain.  "  War/'  faici  Dr.  Ames,  might  be  delay- 
cc  ed,  but  could  not  be  prevented.  The  caufes  of 
C4  it  would  remain,  would  be  aggravated,  would 
f-c  be  multiplied,  and  loon  become  iritollerable. 
re  captures,  more  imprelrhients,  would  fwell 
the  lift  of  our  wrongs,  and  the  current  of  our 
rage."  [If  England 'had  declared  war  agaimT. 
the  United  States,  in  confequcnce  of  the  repre- 
ieiitatives  rejecting  the  treaty,  me  would  have 
become  bankrupt  before  the  next  Chriftmas.]  "The 
tc  progrefs  of  'wealth  and  improvement  is  wonder- 
u  ful,  and  foaie  will  think  too  rapid."*  [Witnefs 
the  enormous  bankruptcies  in  Oclober,  1796,  and 
the  intolerable  fcarcity  of  money  ever  fmce.  The 
country  is  thriving  undoubtedly  but  not  the  more 
from  the  extravagant  fpirit  of  over-trading]  cc  The 
i:  crop  of , our  neutrality  is  "ail  feed-wheat,  and 
cc  is  ?'  iln  to  fwell,  almofb  beyond  calculation, 

tc  :;- .  e   harvelt  of  proiperity.     And  in   this 

itcsj  vo*.  ii.  p.  332. 


tc 

1C     4-1 
CC 


UNITED    STATES.  97 

4i  progrefs  what  feems  to  be  ficlion  is  found  to 
"  fall  ihort  of  experience."  And,  in  this  progrcjs, 
the  bank  of  the  United  States,  unlels  its  dii counts 
are  extremely  tircumfpecl:,  will  go  to  the  family- 
vault  of  thoie  in  London,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin. 
The  reign  of  paper  is  pail  in  Europe,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  courfe,  its  expiration  in  America  will 
happen  fooner  or  latter.  In  cafe  of  any  ferious 
rupture  with  France,  and  after  the  nnparalelled  ruin 
that  is  overfpreading  England,  every  man  here  will 
directly  infill  on  metal  for  his*  bank  notes.  As  to 
the  vaft  crop  of  our  neutrality,  the  privateers  of  France 
and- England  have  reaped  a  very  great  part  of  it. 

We  mall  now  go  back  to  Mr.  Smith's  refolutions, 
and  cite  another  proof  of  the  utter  incapacity  of 
.England,  in  June  1796,  to  have  attacked  America. 
"  The  profits  of  the  contractors,"  fays  he,  u  at  the 
:"  expence  of  the  nation,  have  been  fo  exorbitantly 
u  fwelled,  as  to  have  rifen  even  before  the  depo* 
<c  (it  was  made  thereon,  to  an  amount  greatly  ex- 
u  ceeding  the  depofit  itfelf,  viz.  on  a  loan  of  eigh- 
"  teen  millions,  to  the  enormous  and  incredible  fum 
"  of,  two* millions,  one  hundred  and  fixty  thoujand 
"  pounds  ft  er  ling." 

No  man  could  imagine  that  fuch  a  fyrtem  wras  to 
holdout,  any  more  than  the  gambling,  intereil  of 
five  per  cent,  per  month,  fo  frequently  paid  of  lat^ 
in  the  fea  port  towns  of  America.  Both  thefe  ways 
of  railing  money  refembled  the  refource  of  the 
culprit,  wrho  faid  that  he  could  efcape  the  gal- 
lows  by  cutting  his  throat  in  prifbn. 

Another  inftance  mail  be  given  of  the  hurry  in 
which  Pitt  was  to  fecurd  the  loan  for  1796,  and 
of  the  extreme  impatience  with  which  the  people 
of  England  fawthe  war  prolonged. 

When  the  bankers  of  London  agreed  to  lend  a 
fum  of  money  to  the  minifter,  the  cufloni  was  t» 

O 


9$  HISTORY    OF   THE 

give  thenf  credit  in  the  public  funds  to  a  certain 
amount.  The  current  price  of  ftock,  at  the  time 
of  making  the  bargain,  determined  the  quantity  of  it 
to  be  given  for  the  new  advances  of  the  creditors. 
Thus,  ifvthe  three  per  cents  were  at  eighty,  the 
fame  proportion  of  them  would  buy  ten  thoufand 
pounds,  that  would  only  buy  feven  thoufand  five 
hundred,  if  the  flocks  were  at  fixty  per  cent.  It 
was  hence  the  great  aim  of  every  premier  to  raife 
them  as  high  as  poflible,  before  his  loan,  and  it  was 
ufual  to  caft  profpecls  of  peace,  into  fome  royal 
fpeech  or  meiTage,  by  which  they  were  fure  of 
being  railed.  But,  on  the  27th  of  November,  1795, 
Mr,  Pitt,  with  a  precipitancy  that  wears  the  fouleft 
afpecl^  clofed  a  loan  for  eighteen  millions  with  Mr. 
Boyd.  A  mefTage  that  he  muft  have  forefeen,  carne 
on  the  8th  of  December,  thereafter,  from  George 
the  Third  to  parliament,  telling  his  earneft  deiire  of 
peace.  The  funds  inftantly  got  up  fo  high  that  the 
quantity  given  for  the  loan,  rofe  in  its  value,  nine 
hundred  thoufand  pounds  Jlerlzng.  This  was  juft  fo 
much  money  loft  to  the  public,  and  gained  to  the 
^rankers,  who  probably  run  halves  with  Pitt  himfelf. 
So  rapid  a  rife  in  the  funds,  on  the  flender  profpect 
of  peace,  fhewed  how  very  little  the  Britifh  were 
by  this  time  difpofed  or  indeed  enabled  for  a  war 
with  America.  "  I  confider  all  thofe  war  arguments 
•*  that  have  been  made  ufe  of,"  faid  Mr.  Chriftie, 
1  as  nothing  more  than  the  old  ftory  of  raw-head- 
u  and-bloody-bones,  much  fitter  to  be  ufed  by  an 
*c  old  woman  to  quiet  a  crofs  child,  than  to  convince 
c  any  of  the  enlightened  members  of  this  houfe  of 
*£  the  propriety  of  this  meafure*." 

Events  have  fince  proved  that  the  dread  of  war 
was  a  mere  chimera,  as  the  public  credit  of  England 

*  Bached  Debates,  vo?,ii.  p.  351* 


UNITED  STATES,  99 

had  become  too  feeble  to    fupport   fuch  a  fhock. 
But,  independent  of  that,  and  admitting  our  legi£- 
iators  to  have  been,  as  many  of  them  were,  very 
fhamefully  ignorant  of  the  ftate  of  Englifh  finance, 
ftill  America  had  another  firing  to    her  bow  that 
would   have    reduced    Britain  to    any  reafonablc 
terms.   The  Weft-India  Royal  Gazette,  of  the  jth 
of  October,  1794,  contains  a    memorial   to  Henry 
Dundas  from   the  Weft-Indian  planters  and  mer- 
chants. They  ftate,  at  much  length,  how  impoflible 
it  is  for  them  to  fublift  unlefs  by  iupplies  of  pro- 
vifions  from  this  country.     Hence  an  embargo  on 
exportation  wpuld  have  reduced  them  directly  to 
famine.     There    is   not    room   here  to  infert  the 
whole  memorial,  though    every  line  of  it  well  de- 
ferves  attention  ;  but  the  following   paffages  will 
fliew  how  filly  it  wras  in  members  of  Congrefs   to 
ftand  up  and  make  fpeeches  about  the   danger  of 
an  attack  from  England  in  the  fhape  of  open  wrar, 
"  The  Britifh  Weft-India  iflands,"  fays  the  me- 
morial, "  containing  about  five  hundred  thoufand 
"  black,    and  about    fifty  thoufand  white  inhabi- 
"  tants,  have  been  for  many  years,  greatly  depen- 
4C  dant  for  food  upon  a  fupply  of  flour,  rice,  Indi- 
"  an  corn,  oatmeal,    bread,    and  other  articles  of 
46  dry  provifions,  received  by   a  fpeedy   channel, 
a  and  in  quantities  proportionate   to  their   want, 
44  from  the  countries  now  under  the  fbvereignty  of 
"  the  United  States  of  America  ;  by  no  internal  re- 
<c  fource  can  they  render  themfelves  independent  of 
u  fuch  ajttppfy)  excepting  by  a  total  change  of  their 
c  agricultural  fyftem,  at  the  expence  of  their  com-r 
c  merce  and  revenue  of  the  mother  country;  and 
c  experience  dearly  bought,  on  fuch  occafions,  has- 
44  now  fufficiently  evinced,  that,  by  no  other  external 
c  channel^    can  fuch    a  fupply,   adequate  to   their 
4C  wants,  and  fuited  to  the  emergency  of  circuta- 
"  fiances,  be  obtained," 


loo  HISTORY    OF   THE 

With  fuch  a  document  flarhig  in  his  face,  ho%V 
eould  a  reprefentive  pretend  to  lay  that  he  was 
afraid  of  Britain  declaring  hoftilities  ?  Or  how 
could  two-thirds  of  the  people  in  this  country  fall 
into  fo  foolifh  a  tremor  on  that  head  ?  It  argues  very 
little  either  for  the  found  information,  or  the  good 
fenfe  of  our  citizens.  The  American  alarm  did 
not  begin  till  eighteen  months  after  the  elate  of  this 
memorial,  till  the  Britifh  minifter  had  begun  to 
forge  bills,  and  till  the  bank  of  England  was  with- 
in a  year  of  its  diflblution. 

4t  Beficles  the  important  articles  of  food,  timber 
<c  for  the  purpofe  of  building  their  houfes  and 
<£  manufactories,  and  fiaves  and  heading,  of  which 
<c  to  form  packages  for  their  produce  :  horfes  and 
cc  other  cattle  for  agricultural  ufes  (the  indilpenfi- 
*c  hie  vehicles  of  thofe  benefits  which  Great  Britain 
*c  derives  from  theie  iilands)  cannot,  in  many  cafes, 
cc  be  obtained  at  all ;  and  in  no  cafe,  on  .reafona- 
"  ble  and  advantageous  terms,  excepting  by  an 
<c  intercourfe  with  the  United  States  of  America" 
The  whole  paper  goes  on  the  fame  principles, 
that  the  Britiih  Weil-Indies  are  abfolutely  at  the- 
mercy  of  the  United  States. 

cc  The  Britifh  colonies  of  Canada,  Nova-Scotia, 
<c  and  St.  John,  inftead  of  fupplying  the  Weft-In- 
c  dia  iflands  with  timber  and  provifions,  have,  upon 
:c  a  fair  experience,  been  found,  nearly  at  all  times, 
:c  to  confume  their  own  productions  of  thefe  arti- 
cc  cles  ;  and,  upon  fbme  occafions,  even  to  need  a 
cc.  fupply  from  their  neighbours  of  the  United 
"  States." 

The  contents  of  this  memorial  are  fo  pleafing  as 
well  as  important,  that  one  could  wifh  to  have  it 
framed  in  glafs,  and  hung  up  in  every  farmer's  kitch- 
en in  the  country,  as  an  invincible  antidote  againfl  the 
return  of  the  federal  mania  of  April  and  May,  1796, 


UNITED 

Every  ftep  of  investigation  difcovers  more  clearly 
the  utter  ignorance*,  negligence,  or  corruption  oi 
his  excellency  John  Jay.  This  envoy  might  have  dic- 
tated his  own  terms  about  the  Welt-India  trade, 
yet  it  was  in  this  very  quarter  that  he  contented  to 
a  itipulation  which  even  the  capacious  gulp  oi  our 
Senate  could  not,  or  durfl  not,  f\v allow.  By  the 
twelfth  article,  we  were  not  to  keep  the  Eritiih 
iflands  from  flarving  by  freighting  any  vefiels  larger 
than  Jeve?ify  tons  I 

"  Many  obstacles  ftand  in  the  way  of  the  Weft- 
ft  India  colonies,  obtaining  lumber  and  provifions 
"  from  Great-Britain,  or  any  other  country  in  Eu- 
14  rope  ;  more  particularly  the  precarious  circum- 
"  fiances  of  fuch  a  fupply  ;  its  diftance  in. time  of 
"  emergency,  and  the  perifhable  nature  of  the  ar- 
*'  tides  of  food,  which  forbids  a  provifion  of  large 
"  {lores  Jfrom  a  reiburce  To  remote  ;  and  even  were 
"  it  practicable  for  the  colonies  to  exift  under  a  de~ 
"  pendanceof  the  necefTaries  of  life  and  cultivation., 
"  upon  means  fo  uncertain,  yet  the  enormous  ex- 
"  pence  of  thofe  means,  particularly  in  refpect  to 
"  lumber,  muft  prevent  their  cultivating  their  lands 
"  to  any  beneficial  purpoie  either  to  themfelves,  in 
**  the  firft  inftance,  or  finally  to  Great  Britain. 

"  The  Britifh  colonies  have  found,  in  an  inter- 
**  courfe  with  the  United  States,  a  market  for  their 
"  Superfluous  produce  beyond  the  European  con- 
"  fumption,  and  particularly  for  the  article  of  rum  j 
"  for  which,  at  different  times,  the  European  market 
"  vvould  not  afford  the  coft  of  package  and  tran£- 
M  port/' 

Thus  far  we  have  about  one-fourth  part  of  the 
memorial.  We  now  plainly  fee  that  the  more  iflands 
which  England  conquered  in  the  Weft-Indies,  the 
inore  me  was  dependant  on  this  country,  for  their 
means  of  fubfiftence?  for  timber  to  build  lioufes, 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

for  {laves  and  heading,  as  likewife  for  taking  off  & 

great  part   of  the  Well-Indian    productions    that 

would  not  bear  the  expence  of  being   conveyed  to 

Europe.     The  planters  and  merchants   proceed  to 

complain  heavily  of  the  mode  of  interconrle  then 

permitted  between  the    continent  and  the  iflands. 

It  is  difficult  to  do  juftice  to  their  ideas  but  in  their 

own  words.     Here  follows  part  of  what  they  fay. 

cc  Since  the  reparation  of  the  United  States  from 

c  Great  Britain,  their   intercourle  with  our  iilands 

£  having  been  reftri&ed  to  Britifh  veffels  only,  the 

c  price  of  lumber  and  provifions  at  the  Weft-India 

:t  markets,  under  the  moft  favourable  circumftan- 

c  ces  of  peace  and  regular  fupply,  has  aiifen  from 

cc  fifty  to  an  hundred  per  cent." 

This,  by  the  way,  (hews  the  tyrannical  fpirit  of 
the  Britiih  government,  and  how  every  other  part 
of  the  empire  is  facrificed  to  the  plan  of  aggrandi- 
zing the  mother  country.  The  memorial  goes  on 
in  thefe  words. 

*'  The  intercourfe,  while  confined  to  Britifh  ve£- 
"  fels,  has,  for  various  reafons,  been  principally 
"  carried  on  by  a  direcl  trade  between  the  iflanda 
"  and  the  United  States,  in  veffels  constructed  and 
"  fitted  for  the  purpofe,  which  muft  evidently  have 
"  the  advantage  over  veifels  employed  in  the  circu- 
"  itous  trade  from  Great-Britain  ;  as  the  1  aft  could 
"  not  be  at  once  proper  for  the  tranfport  of  lumber 
44  from  America  to  the  iilands,  and  for  that  of  pro- 
*B  dace  from  the  iflancls  of  Great  Britain ;  nor  afford 
*f  means  of  barter  in  rum  and  molaffes,  nor  be  navi- 
"  gated  on  equally  advantageous  terms  with  thofe 
**  finaller  veffels,  nor  equally  fuit  their  expedition 
*'  to  the  wants  of  the  iflands  and  to  the  ft  ate  of 
*'  markets, 

"  Upon  the  breaking  out  of  a  war  with  France^ 
"  thefe  fmall  and  defeiicelefs  veffels  have  either 


UNITED  STATES. 
**  fallen  a  prey  to  the  enemy,  or  been  employed  in 
"other  trades;  and  this  cannot  be  accounted  a 
"  circumftance  accidental,  or  that  admits  of  future 
"  remedy  ;  fince  the  nature  of  the  intercourfe  iu 
"  queibion  forbids  an  eftablifhment  of  regular  con- 
"  voys  to  and  from  all  the  iflands  at  fuch  times  as 
"  may  be  faited  to  their  wants ;  and  the  imnienfc 
"  expenceof  outfit,  Teamen's  wages,  and  infurance, 
"  difcourage  adventure  in  a  trade  attended  with 
"  fuch  imminent  rifk,  and  which,  if  a  fupply  by 
"  fuch  means  were  even  poffible,  muftfwelltheex- 
"  pence  beyond  thofe  bounds  which  the  cultivators 
"  in  thofe  iflands  can  poflibly  fupport," 

There  is  next  flated  the  frequent  and  invincible 
necejjity  which  the    governors  of  the   Weft-India 
iflands  find  of  opening  their  ports  to  American  vefiels 
to  prevent    inftant  ftarvation  ;  and  yet  provifions 
and  other  articles  of  immmcdiate  necejjity  are  fome- 
times  fold   at  three  hundred  per  cent,  beyond  the 
average  price.     For  this,  and  other  reafons  above 
dated,    they  folicit    a  more  extended   intercourfe 
with  America.     They  reprefent  the  impoffibility 
of  providing  food  from  their  lands,  and  the  pecu- 
liar diflrefs  under  which  they    labour  during  the 
prefent  war.  cc  Under  fuch  difadvantages  aperfeve- 
xc  ranee  in  the  prefent  fyflem  of  their  intercourie 
*w  with  America  muftform  an  accumulation  of  bur- 
c  den,  which  will  entirely  preclude  a  fair  competi- 
<c  tion  with  their  rivals  in  cultivation,  will  flimu- 
'  late  and  alTift  the  progrefs  of  cultivation  in  the 
c  Dutch  and  Spani/li  fettlements,  and  immediate- 
c  ly  tend  to  the  diftrefs  and  .ruin  of  the  inhabitants 
c  of  the  Britifh  Weft-India   colonies,  and  of  the 
'  numerous  claffes  of  their  fellow  fubjecls  in  Great 
c  Britain  and  Ireland   connected  with  and  depen- 
"  dant  upon  them." 

The  memorial  alfo  reprefents  the  good  policy 


I04  HISTORY    OF    THE 

of  encouraging  America  to  peifevere  in  her  agri- 
cultural fyitem,  and  expreffes  fears  that  the  de- 
preffion  of  her  intercourfe  with  the  iflands  may  have 
a  tendency  of  driving  her  to  manufactures.  They 
add,  cc  our  fyftem  of  exclufive  poffeinonof  thofc  be- 
*c  neats  has  been  found,  in  times  of  emergency, 
cc  impracticable,  and  the  participation  which,  at 
cc  fuch  times,  we  have  granted  to  America,  has 
:c  had  neither  the  merit  of  a  conceffion  with  that 
tc  country,  nor  the  advantage  of  effectual  relief  to 
<fi  ourfelves." 

It  is  neectlefs  to  feek  farther  evidence  of  the  Rri- 
tifh  Weil-Indies  exiiling  wholely  at  our  good  will ; 
and  how  highly  England  values  that  part  of  her  ac* 
qnifltions  appears  from  her  folicitude  to  extend  them , 

In  the  debate,  in  parliament,  about  the  beginning 
of  1796,  on  the  bill  for  abolishing  the  flave-trade, 
in  the  Houfe  of  Commons,  Mr.  Dim  das  ftated  the 
imports  from  the  Rritifh  Weft-Indies,  in  1795, to  ^c 
as  fallows:  eight  millions  eight  hundred  tiioufand 
pounds  fterling ;  revenue  arifing  on  this  amount, 
one  million  fix  hundred  and  twenty-four  thoufand  ; 
fhipping  employed  in  that  trade,  fix  hundred  and 
fixty-four  vefTels  ;  tonnage,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  thoufand  ;  feamen  eight  thoufand  ;  exports 
from  Great-Britain,  .to  the  Weft-Indies,  in  1794, 
three  millions  feven  hundred  and  forty  thoufand 
pounds,  employing  feven  hundred  ve/Iels  ;  tonnage,, 
one  hundred  and  ieventy-feven  thoufand;  feamen> 
twelve  thoufand  ;  produce  of  the  iilands  imported 
to  Britain  and  re-exported,  three  millions  feven  hun- 
dred thoufand  pounds. 

On  the  loth,  of  February,  1797,  Mr,  Parker, 
when  defending  the  plan  of  building  American  fri- 
gates, obferved  that,  flncethe  beginning  of  the  war, 
not  a  (ingle  Britiih  Well-India  fleet  had  been  home- 
ward bound  which  theie  fix  frigates  were  not  flrong 


UNITED    STATES.  105* 

enough  to  have  taken.  Such  was  the  known  track 
of  the  trade-winds  that  they  were  obliged  to  corqe 
'within  Jeven  days  Jailing  of  this  coaft.  The  French 
were  in  the  fame  condition,  fo  that  we  might  have 
been  as  formidable  to  either  of  thefe  powers  as  Al- 
giers is. 

The  flopping  of  this  enormous  trade  muft  have 
ruined  the  credit  of  Britain.  She  would  not,  there- 
fore, have  been  hafty  in  declaring  war  againfl  the 
country,  after  the  dreadful  campaign  of  1794.  ^n 
the  lothof  February  of  that  year,  Dorcheftei  had,  in- 
deed, made  an  addrefs  to  the  Indians,  wherein  he  fta- 
tedthepoflibility  of  a  war,  in  the  courieof  the  year, 
between  England  and  the  United  States.  But  this 
was,  mod  likely,  a  mere  decoy  for  our  executive. 
On  the  26th  of  May  following,  Grenville  and  Dun- 
das  denied,  in  Parliament,  any  knowledge  of  tl,is 
performance.  They  certainly  lied,  for  they  refu- 
fed  to  produce  a  copy  of  Dorchefter's  iniiruclious  ; 
and,  as  Fox  obferved  in  reply,  his  lordfl  ip  was  not 
a  perlbn  who  would  hazard  iuch  aconducl  without 
proper  authority.  This  difavowal  by  Dundas  and 
Grenviile  (hews  that  they  were  afraid  to  acknow- 
ledge thefpeech;  and  that  a  rupture  with  the  Uni- 
ted States  would  have  been  regarded  in  the  old 
country  with  univerfal  reprobation.  Grenvi'fleeven 
pretended  to  deny  the  pofiibility  of  fiich  a  harangue 
having  ever  been  delivered.  What  an  impoitor  ! 
But  this  agrees  very  well  with  the  forgery  of  Boyci's 
Hamburg  bills*. 

Camillus,  No.  v.  overlooks  every  circumftance 
©f  this  kind  that  fhews  how  much  Pitt  would  have 

*  The  fatellites  of  the  minifter  have  about  as  much  honour  and 
honefty  as  himfelf.  The  Telegraph  of  the  3oth  of  March,  179?,  re- 
lates,  that,  on  a  late  trial  at  Thetford,  it  came  out  that  a  membef  of 
Parliament  pocke.ed  three  hundred  pounds  ilerling  a  >  ear  for  frank* 
ing  letters  to  a  banking-houfe, 

P 


I06  HISTORY   OF   THE 

been  afraid  of  an  American  war.  He  trie$  to  play 
upon  our  prudence  and  oar  fears.  When  {peaking 
of  the  claim  for  negroes  carried  away  by  UK  Bri~ 
tifh  from  New-York,  at  the  end  of  the  late  war, 
he  lays  tfc  no  coiiiideration  of  honour  forbid  (/0r- 
44  bade}  the  renunciation;  e.very  calculation  of  in- 
44  tereit  invited  to  it.  The  evils  of  war  for  one 
<l  month  would  outweigh  the  advantage,  if,  at  the 
*4  end  of  it,  there  was  a  certainty  of  attainment. 
*4  But  was  war  the  alternative  I  Yes,  war  or  di£- 
ic  grace. — If  nothing  had  reiulted  [from  Jay's 
*'  voyogr,  he  means,]  was  there  any  clioice  but  re- 
*'  prifals?  Should  we  not  have  rendered  ourfelves 
*4  ridiculous  and  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the 
*'  whole  world  by  forbearing  them  ?"' 

The  neceiiity  thatCamillus  defcribes  did  not  ex- 
Ift;  though  we  have  loft  leis  by  a  fhabby  flate  of 
peace,  than  we  muft- have  done  by  a  fuccefsful  war« 
But  wifdom  would  h?ve  chofen  a  middle  courfe. 
Jay  iijight  have  addreifed  Grenville  In  terms  like 
theie.  "  You  have  wronged  the  United  States  in  a 
4C  variety  of  fliapes-  Your  offers  of  redreis  are  eva- 
*4  five  or  infolent.  We  (hall  not  declare  war  againft 
£C  you.  There  is  a  (horter  and  a  cheaper  way* 
£C  America  has  no  treaty  of  commerce  with  Eng- 
**  land.  She  cannot  be  accufed  of  breaking  any, 
*4  by  flopping  the  exportation  of  proviiionsto  your 
44  Weft-India  iflands.  We  know  that  your  fifty 
64  thoufand  whites,  and  five  hundred  thoufand  blacksi 
gc  cannot  find  bread,  or  pork  for  their  dinners,  or 
4C  timber  to  build  their  houles,  or  Haves  for  their 
44  cafks,  or  even  hories  or  cattle,  but  by  fending 
44  for  them  to  .our  continent.  Eefides  large  quan- 
<4  tities  of  their  rum,  we  alfo  take  feveral  produc- 
*4  tions  that. will  not  bear  the  expence  of  a  con- 
*'  veyance  to  Europe,  This  market  they  will  for- 
^  feit,  .and  ninety  days  of  an  embargo  in  our  ports 


-UNITED   STATES, 

44  will  make  them  die  of  hunger  as  faft  as  your 
14  vi'fHips' eta  the  glacis  of  Tanjore*.  We  (hall 
44  farther  give  notice  to  France  that,  for  ready  mo- 
cc  ney,  (he  may  get  whatever  fupplies  Pne  can  want? 
4C  on  exporting  them  in  h?r  own  bottoms.  If  you 
44  waptonlv  proclaim  hoftilities  agsinft  us,  we  fhall 
44  followthe  maxim  of  the  Celtic  chief,  neither  tojeek 
*4  the  battle,  nor  fliuu  it  when  it  comes  j".  Twenty 
44  thoufand  of  our  militia,  would,  in  a  few  weeks, 
44  drive  your  handful  of  regulars  out  of  Canada,  and 
4C  you  could  not,  at  prefent,  ipare  a  fleet  or  an  army 
"to  recover  it.  We  fhould  thus  put  an  end  to 
4C  Indian  wars,  by  tearing  up  the  root  from  whence 
"  they  fpring.  After  driving  Vtftor  Hughes  out 
44 -of  Gnadaloupe,  you  might  burn  fome  of  our 
ic  towns  on,  the  fea  coaft,  as  you  did  in  the  laft  war* 
4C  But  then  we  fhall  infallibly  deilroy  your  nine 
* c  millions  fterling  per  annum  of  imports  from  the 
4C  Weft-Indies,  and  the  iixteen  hundred  thoufand 
<c  pounds  of  revenue  derived  from  them.  This 
14  would  be  a  mortal  ftroke  to  your  finances,  and 
"  fo  take  your  choice." 

In  No  xv.  Camillus  treats  of  the  compenfstion 
afforded  by  the  feventh  article  of  .Jay's  treaty  for 
Britifh  piracies  on  American  commerce.  Since  the 
apoplexy  of  Britith  paper  the  word  compenfation 
founds  like  mockery.  But  Camillus  would  have 
it  believed  that  Pitt  neverintended  the  cbnnTcation 
of  our  vefTels.  u  Thefe  terms,  legal  adjudication^ 
46  were  certainly  not  equivalent,  upon  any  rational 
u  conftrucl:ion,  to  condemnation. — Yet  the  Britifk 
44  Weft-India  courts  of  admiralty  appear  tohave  ge- 
4  nerally  acled  upon  thetermas  fynonimous  to  con- 
44  demnation. — TheBritifli  cabinet  have  difavowed 
l4  this  conftruction  of  th(?  Well-India  courts  j  and 

*  See  Barke  oa  the  creditors  of  the  nabob  ®f  -Ar«o** 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

lc  have,  as  we  have  feen,  by  a  fpecial  aft  of 
a  ference,  opened  a  door,"&c. 

Tue  flile  of  Mr.  Hamilton  is  fo  prolhc,  he  has 
fuch  (kill  at  beating  out  his  guinea  into  an  acre  of 
gold  leaf *,  that  it  is  inconvenient  to  quote  him  at 
full  length.  But  he  means  to  have  it  underftood, 
that  the  Weft-India  judges  acted  againft  the  under- 
ftanding  and  wifhes  of  Pitt.  The  letter  muft  have 
been  a  very  great  blockhead,  if  he  could  not  write 
a  dozen  intelligible  lines,  efpecially  on  a  fubject  of 
fuch  inimenfe  importance,.  But  every  man,  Camil- 
lus  and  the  tories  excepted,  can  fee  at  once  the  bot- 
tom of  the  ftory.  The  object  was  to  feize  Ame- 
rican (hipping  for  the  treble  purpofe  of  enriching 
the  Engli.'h,  of  humbling  America,  and  diilreiling 
France.  Yet  the  orders  were  to  be  drawn  in  a  (huf- 
iling  form,  that  Pitt,  if  he  (hould  afterwards  find  it 
advifeable  to  difown  them,  as  he  did  Dorchefter's 
inftructions,  might  have  a  chink  to  creep  through. 
We  may  be  fure  that  judges,  .and  officers  of  the  na- 
vy, afted  from  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  Pitt's  re- 
al intention  ;  and,  when  colonel  Hamilton  tries  to 
perfnade  us  of  the  contrary,  it  is  only  adding  infult 
to  robbery.  When  the  object  had  been  attained, 
It  was  very  eafy  for  Pitt  to  deny  his  orders.  In  a  fu- 
ture chapter  (hall  be  inferted  a  regular  hiftory  of 
the  whole  of  thefe  inftructions.  A  fecond  fet  was 
publifhed  by  the  cabinet  of  London  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1794.  They  were  very  little  better  than 
the  firit.  A  former  edition,  jufl  about  as  bad,  had 
been  iilued  on  the  8th  of  June,  1793,  under  which 
alfo  fome  bucaneering  was  committed.  Thus  the 
court  of  London  acted  upon  a  fyftem,  and  it  was 
very  wrong  in  Camillus  to  caft  the  blame  on  the 
judges  in  the  Weft-Indies.  As  for  the  above  deer 

*  This  can  really  be  done. 


UNITED    STATES.  to? 

that  has  been  opened,  it  cofts  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  fterling  to  get  in.  Divine  juftice  never  dif~ 
played  itfelf  more  iplendidly  than  bythechafHfement 
of  Britifh  pride.  Since  the  florming  of  the  Baf- 
tile,  the  mofl  aufpicious  event  in  the  annals  of  Eu- 
rope is  the  fall  of  the  bank  of  England. 

Among  the  inflammatory  topics  of  the  federal 
party,  no  one  has  had  a  more  powerful  effect  than 
the  attempt  of  Genet  to  involve  this  country  in 
hoflilities  with  England.  The  force  of  the  objec- 
tion (hall  be  admitted ;  but  any  other  envoy,  fitua- 
ted  like  Genet,  would  have  rejoiced  in  fecuringthe 
alliance  of  America.  This  was  the  very  part  which 
Dr.  Franklin  afted  at  the  court  of  France  ;  and 
the  ultimate  confequences  of  his  million  overturn- 
ed the  French  monarchy.  Nothing,  therefore,  can 
be  more  impenetrably  ftupid  than  to  advance,  as 
Mr.  Hamilton  and  his  hacks  conftantly  do,  this  de~ 
fign  of  involving  us  in  an  Englifli  war,  as  a  charge 
of  peculiar  atrocity  againft  Genet  and  the  republic* 
This  was  the  very  path  formerly  purfued  by  the 
United  States;  and  it  would,  under fimilar  circum- 
fiances,  have  been  attempted  by  any  nation  or  any 
ambaiTador  under  heaven.  This  identical  trap  had 
been  laid  by  the  old  Congrefs  arid  Franklin  for  the 
French  cabinet,  fo  that  it  was  perfectly  natural  for 
France  to  endeavour  at  obtaining  a  retaliation. 
While  Genet  mud  be  condemned,  Mr.  Hammond 
was  equally  culpable.  His  perfidious  and  infolent 
propofal  to  Mr.  Randolph,  previous  to  the  ratifi- 
tion  of  Jay's  treaty*,  was  more  affronting  to  the 
executive  feelings,  if  any  fuch  feelings  exiftecl, 
than  the  moft  frantic  menaces  uttered  by  Ge- 
net. A  compliance  by  General  Wafhington  would 
have  cafl  him  completely  into  the  lee-way  of  the 

*  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap,  viii. 


its  HtSTdRY    OF  THE 

Briti Hi  ambafTsdor*  The  poffeffion  of  fnch  a  fecret 
have   been  of  inmerie  value  to  the  Britifh 
"•.et.  It  wo  fid  have    been  a  nidder   by  which 
oar  executive  muft  have   fleered    wherever  Ham- 
mond  chofe  to   lead  him  ;  for  its  difcovery  was 
fare  to  have  interred  even  the  popularity  of  Wafh- 
ington.  If  tills  difgraceful  project  had  tome  from 
Genet,  the  Gazette  of  the  United  States  would  have 
played  a  weekly  tune  upon  that  fiddle  to  the  end 
:is  century.    But,  originating  with  Pitt,   not  a 
fingle  word  will  be  heard  about  it  from  the  fede- 
ral preffes. 

Mr.  Washington  has  made  an  uncommon  parade 
about  the  impartiality  of  his  conduft-  between 
France  and  England*  As  the  former  faved  him  from 
the  chance  of  afcending  a  gibbet,  to  which  he  had 
been  defined  by  the  Parliament  of  Britain,  he  ran-* 
iiot  derive  much  honour  from  an  utter  oblivion  df 
his  political  obligations.  But  the  fad-  is,  that  he 
lias  preferred  Britain  to  France.  This  will  appear 
from  what  follows. 

In  1793,  when  Genet  came  here,  he  was  dire$>» 
cd,  by  his  i nil rucl ions,  to  open  negotiations  for  a 
commercial  treaty.  They  direct  him  to  tell  the 
American  government  that  the  executive  council 
<c  are  inclined  to  extend  the  latitude  of  the  propo- 
cc  fed  commercial  treaty."  Another  idea  was  to 
break  op  the  colonial  and  monopolizing  iyllems  of 
all  nations,  and  emancipate  the  new  world.  Camil- 
lus.  No.  xxiv.  calls  the  latter  a  madjcheme  and  apo- 
litical ckh'i.tr a »  Thefe  expreifions  betray  Mr.  Ha- 
milton's general  call  of  thinking.  His  feelings  are 
fo  perfeftly  Britiih,  and  monarchical,  that  it  leems 
inconceivable  how  he  ever  came  to  fight,  as  he  did, 
for  the  American  revolution.  Mexico  and  Braiil 
u.fl  as  well  entitled  to  freedom  as  New- York 
andPennfylvania.  Their  emancipation  would  bs 


UNITED   STATES.  ill 

an  immenfe  benefit  both  to  the  inhabitants  of  thofc 
countries  themielves,  and  to  mankind  at  large.  So 
far  from  being  chimerical,  the  event  is  provable*  ; 
and  it  would  thrill  with  joy  the  heart  of  every  man 
who  is  not  completely  petrified  againll  the  pleaiure 
of  feeing  his  fellow  creatures  happy,  In  the  laft 
age,  Camillas  would  have  defended  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  In  England,  he  would  vindicate  the 
Guinea  trade,  as  in  America  he  fighs  over  the  me- 
mory of  the  Baitile ;  while  John  Jay,  and  Kufus 
King,  and  Jedidiah  Morfe,  and  the  whole  priefthood 
of  Connecticut,  heave  refponfive  notes  of  forrowt. 
Were  thefe  regions  of  the  new  world  independent, 
a  rapid  influx  of  the  precious  metals  would  pour 
into  this  country  ;  and  Mr.  Hamilton's  bank  of  the 
United  States  might  then  be  able,  upon  a  month's 
warning,  to  give  hard  dollars  for  one-fortieth  part 
of  the  notes  which  it  hath  in  circulation.  So  far 
from  fuch  an  emancipation  being  chimerical,  it  is 
next  to  certain  of  taking  place.  If  the  French  do 
not  atchieve  this  great  event,  the  tide  of  federal 
population,  rolling  well  ward,  will  begin  it  in  lels 
than  a  century. 

Returning  to  Prcfldent  Wadiingtoja  and  Genet, 
we  obferye  that  the  former  refufed  to  enter  into 
any  treaty,  becaufe  the  Senate  were  not  fitting  at 
the  time  when  the  French  envoy  made  the  propo- 

*  The  French  had  actually  prepared  a  reanifefto  intituled,  Let  Fraiz~ 
faife  Libra  le  leurs  fr?res  de  U  LouisiANE.  In  one  place  they  fay, 
•"  Le  defpotifme  Efpagnol  a  furpafle  en  atrocite,  en  ilupidite  tous 
*'  les  defpotifms  connus."  [Spaniih  defpotifra  exceeds  all  others  in 
atrocity  and  ftupidity.]  *«  Ce  government  qui  a  rendu  le  nom  Ef- 
"  pagnol  execrable  fur  tout  le  continent  de  I'Ameriquc.". — [This  go- 
vernment, which  has  rendered  the  Spaniih  name  execrable  over  the 
u  hole  continent  of  America,  &c,  j  Such  orators  would  foon  have 
found  an  audience. 

f  The  reverend  doclor  has  a  pulpit  at  Charleftown,  in  Maflachu- 
fetts.  A  mob  in  that  place  burnt  the  Britifli  treaty.  Their  paftor, 
hearing  what  was  going  on,  bxfted  into  the  ftreet  to  prevent  them, 
He  prefently  returned  to  hi*  houfs  with  a  black  eve. 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

fal.  Yet,  in  the  following  fpring,  wl#le  the  Senate 
were  in  feilion,  and  without  ever  once  consulting 
them,  did  this  identical  George  Wafhington  take 
John  Jay  from  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
this  country,  and  fend  him  to  England,  whfre,  as 
we  all  know,  he  made  a  treaty.  It  was  impoffible 
for  the  French  to  avoid  being  affronted  at  fuch  du- 
plicity. They  could  no  longer  put  trufl  in  a  man 
capable  of  fuch  naked  inconilitency.  Here  is  infer- 
ted  evidence  of  the  fact. 


"  Gentlemen    of   the 

"  Senate. 1    HAVE 

U  TKOrGHT    PROPER    TO 

u  NOMINATE  JOHN  JAY, 
u  as  envoy  extraorclina^ 
"  ry  from  the  United 
"  States  to  his  Britannic 
"  majdtyt." 


ct  The  Senate  being 
"  then  in  recefs,  and  not 
<c  to  meet  again  till  the 
"  fall,  I  apprifed  Mr. 
u  Genet,  that  the  parti- 
cc  cipation,  in  matters  of 
ic  treaty,  given  by  the 
"  conftitution  to  that 
cc  branch  of  our  govern- 
<c  ment,  would,  of 

c  courfe,  delay  any  de- 
cc  finitive  anfwer  to  his 

4  friendly  proportion. 
cc  As  he  was  fenfible  of 

c  this  circumftance,  the 
<l  matter  has  been  utider- 
cc  flood  to  lie  over,  till 

c  the  meeting  of  theSe- 
"  nate. — The  Prefident 

c  will  meet  them  (the 
c<  executive  of  France), 
a  as  foon  as  he  can  do  it 
cc  in  the  forms  of  the  con- 
"  ftitution*." 


*  Sec  a  letter  from  Mr.  Jefferfon,  then  Secretary  »f  Sttte>  to  Mr, 
Morris,  dated  Auguft  23,  1793*  in  The  Prejident's  M^Jfage%  &c.  C»* 
rey's  edition,  p.  88. 

t  Journals  of  Congrefs,  April  16,  1794, 


UNITED    STATES. 

The  Preficlent's  metfage  is  of  considerable  length, 
but  the  few  words  above  quoted  contain  its  eiTence. 
In  the  left  hand  column  he  fays,  that  he  cannot  en- 
ter into  any  negociation  for  a  treaty  till  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Senate.  No  words  can  be  plainer  or 
flronger  than  thofe  vtfhich  he  employs.  The  oppofite 
column  fpeaks  an  oppofite  language.  It  is  ungene- 
rous to  triumph  over  the  ruins  of  declining  fame, 
Upon  this  account,  not  a  word  more  (hall  be  laid 
about  the  matter.  The  bare  circumftances  fuper- 
cede  any  attempt  either  to  exaggerate  or  demon- 
flrate.  Nothing  but  the  neceffity  of  explanation 
could  have,  at  ail,  brought  the  fubjecl  forward. 

While  this  meet  was  going  to  prefs,  (i6th  May, 
179/0  Prefident  Adams  has  delivered  a  fpeech  at  the 
opening  of  the  firft  feflion  of  the  fifth  Congreis. 
He  fays  Niat  ct  the  conduct  of  the  government  has 
*c  been  juft  and  IMPARTIAL  to  foreign  nations." 
With  refpecl:  to  France,  what  has  been  above  cited 
refutes  the  afTertion.  The  fpeech  confifts  entirely 
of  a  complaint  againft  the  republic.  It  forms  a  kind 
of  poftfcript  to  Pickering's  letter  to  Pinckney.  Not 
a  word  efcapes  the  Prefident  about  Britilh  piracy, 
which  continues  to  expand  in  full  bloflbm.  The  ve-* 
ry  day  before  this  fpeech  was  pronounced,  the  Phi- 
ladelphia Gazette  contained  a  curious  example  of 
the  relative  amity  of  France  and  England.  The 
French  had  carried  about  fixteen  American  veffels 
into  Jean  Rabel.  The  Britifli  cut  out  thefe  yeflels, 
and  it  was  expected  that  they  would  be  fent  to  Ja- 
maica for  trial.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  their 
being  tried  fomewhere  ;  and  the  chance  is,  that 
moft,  if  not  the  whole,  of  them  will  be  confifcated. 

When  Mr.  Munroe,  had  his  farewell  audience  of 
the  executive  directory,  Barras  glanced  with  con- 
tempt at  the  Britifli  treaty,  and  the  Britifli  intereft 
fey  which  it  had  been  brought  about.  Mr 


HISTORY  OF  THE 
has  muttered  up  this  into  an  alarming  infnlt  againft 
our  country,  and  an  attempt  to  fow  domeftic  dif- 
fenfion.  He  reprobates  fuch  a  flyle  in  the  bittereft 
terms,  as  "  ftudioufly  marked  with  indignities  to-. 
"  wards  the  government  of  the  United  States.  It 
"  evinces  a  difpofition  to  fepsrate  the  people  of  the 
6S  United  States  from  the  government  ;  to  petluade 
ct  them  that  they  have  different  affections,  princi- 
*'  pies,  and  interefts,  from  thole  of  their  fellow- 
"  citizens,  and  thus  to  produce  diviflons  fatal  to 
"  our  peace.'7 

This  ipeech  does  not  come  within  the  period  af- 
(igned  to  theprefent  volume  ;  but  it  forms  a  branch 
of  the  plan  already  explained  for  provoking  a 
French  war.  A  cafe  exactly  fimilar  to  this  of  Bar- 
ras  and  Munroe  happened,  fome  years  ago,  be- 
tween lord  Grenville  and  Thomas  Pinckney.  The 
former  mentioned  to  the  latter,  in  the  moft  overbea- 
ring manner,  the  influence  of  a  jacobin  faclion  in 
America.  Choifeul  or  Neckar  would  not  have  up- 
braided an  Englifh  envoy  with  the  riots  excited  by 
John  Wilkes  or  George  Gordon.  If  the  American 
executive  of  1793,  ^ac^  ^e^  even  the  moft  glim- 
mering fpark  of  national  dignity,  the  infult  would 
liave  been  refented.  If  Pinckney  himfelf  had  been 
penetrable  by  reproach,  he  would  have  cut  Gren- 
ville fliort.  "  My  lord,"  he  might  have  faid,  cc  Eng- 
"land  has  many  jacobins,  Scotland  has  perhaps  a 
"  fHll  larger  proportion^  and  the  number  is  hourly 
*'  augmenting.  The  Irifh  are  a  jacobin  nation.  They 
"  are  as  ripe  for  a  revolution,  as  a  peach  ever  was 
ft  for  dropping.  Confine  your  folicitude  to  them, 
M  and  leave  us  to  get  rid,  .as  quietly  as  we  can,  of 
-*'  your  corr.efpondent^  Alexander  Hamilton,  and 
(*  his  funding  cancer  of  fix  per  cent." 

Mr-  Pinckney  pocketed  the  ftigma.  He  fent 
laome  the  precious  notice  of  a  jacobin  faction  in 


UNITED  STATESv 
America.  The  executive,  proud  of  fuch  a  corro^ 
boration  to  his  own  doctrine,  fent  it  to  Congrefs  ; 
and  the  letter  was  read  to  the  Houfe  of  Pveprefen- 
tatives  without  one'  murmur  of  difdain.  That 
Pinckney  mould  have  endured  fuch  mockery  was 
bad.  That  General  Wafhington  mould  have  tran£» 
ferred  the  indignity  to  his  own  moulders,  without 
any  muttering,  was  a  great  dealworfe.  The  abject 
filence  of  the  reprefentatives,  when  the  paper  was 
read,  betrayed  an  equal  extinction  of  any  formida- 
ble fpirit. 

Barras  could  not  have  wiflied  for  a  better  prece- 
dent in  his  ipeech  to  Munroe.  The  etiquette  of 
federal  degradation  had  beeneflablifhed  at  London, 
It  had  been  approved  by  tiie  Prefident  andCongrefs, 
Barras,  with  a  thoufand  reaibns  for  reientrnent, 
while  Grenville  had  not  one,  was  highly  exeufable 
for  giving  us  a  repetition  of  the  dofe. 

The  Prefident  affects  to  brittle  up  at  the  mention 
of  American  parties.  He  knows  that  there  are  fuchy 
and  an  allufion  to  them  was  not  Separating  the  peo- 
ple from  the  government.  The  Britifh  treaty  was 
iqueezed  through  the  Senate  by  a  party  of  twenty 
againfl  a  party  of  ten  ;  and  two  of  the  former,  oa 
account  of  their  perfonal  characters,  would  hardly 
be  admitted  as  evidences  in  a  court  of  juftice*.  In 
the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives  the  treaty  efcaped  by 
a  flngle  vote.  Every  fecond  number  of  Camillus 
reprefents  America  as  full  of  defperate  incendiaries, 

*  Extraft  from  the  journals  of  the  Kentucky  legiflature,  Novem- 
ber 21,  179  j.  ««  On  motion,  refolved,  that  a  committee  ought  to 
"  be  appointed  to  draught  a  memorial  to  Congrefs,  fetting  fortlj 
"  that  HUMPHREY  MARSHALL,  one  of  our  Senators  from  thii 
"  (late,  has  been  publicly  charged  with  bemg  guilty  of  perjury >  and 
"  requefting  that  an  inveftigation  may  be  made  on  the  fubjeft,  and 
*«  that,  if  the  fad  be  fufficiently  proved,  he  ought  to  be  expellcdt 
"  from  the  Senate.  And  a  committee  was  appointed,"  &c, 

Of  Mr.  Gunn,  fom«  aotice  hath  already  been  taken* 


ii<5  HISTORY  OF    THE 

The  Gazette  of  the  United  States  is  an  egg  hatched 
tinder  the  very  wing  of  the  Senate.  It  pi  educes  a 
conln-i  dr^am  of  FnVeftive  againft  the  republic, 
and  againil  every  man  in  this  country  who  has  ap- 
proved of  the  French  revolution.  On  the  part  of 
Barras  the  farcafm  was  perfectly  fair.  We  had  no 
right  or  pretence  to  complain  about  it. 

The  Honfe  of  Reprefentatives  have  fet  out  with 
a  direct  breach  of  one  of  their  {landing  rules. 
This  is  that  "'in  ALL  cafes  where  others  than  mem- 
cc  bers  of  the  houfe  are  eligible,  there  fhall  be  a 
u  previous  nomination.'* 

The  propriety  of  adopting  this  rule  will  be 
happily  illtiftrated  by  a  recent  circumflance,  which 
occurred  within  the  walls  of  that  houfe.  In  the 
d  feTion  of  the  third  Congrefs,  Mr.  Sedgwick 
prefented  a  petition  from  a  perlbn  who  warded  to  be 
appointed  as  their  fliort  hand  writer.  It  was  after- 
wards known  that  this  man*  had,  fornetime  before^ 
been  publicly  tried  at  Baltimore,  and  baniflied,  as 
a  receiver  of  ftolen  goods.  Had  a  ftenographer 
been,  at  that  time,  chofen  by  ballot,  Mr.  Sedgwick 
might  have  probably  brought  himfelf  into  the  dilem- 
ma of  voting  for  this  hone/7  candidate.  Such  an 
inftance  has,  to  be  ftire,  nothing  to  do  with  the 
fuccefsful  candidate  in  the  election  here  referred  to  ; 
but  it  (hews  what  may  fall  within  the  chapter  of  po£ 
Abilities. 

Mr.  Giles  urged  the  juftice  of  naming  the  candi- 
dates beforehand,  that  gentleman  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  balancing,  in  their  own  minds,  the; 
merit  of  each.  This  looked  like  fairnels.  The 
propofal  was  refitted  by  Dr.  William  Smith  of 
South-Carolina.  That  ftate  hath,  in  the  fifth  Con- 
grefs, lent  two  members  of  the  fame  name  and 

*  David  Hogan,  editor  of  the  State-Trials  of  Pennfyhania* 


UNITED    STATES.  117 

furname.  The  one  here  meant  is  the  writer  of 
PHOCION'S  letters.  This  is  the  man  who  tlifpatch- 
ed  pilot  boats,  while  Congreis  met  at  ISfew-York,  to 
Charlefton.  The  object  of  this  maritime  embafTy 
was  to  buy  up  continental  certificates.  They  were 
obtained  at  eighteen  pence  or  half  a  crown  per  pound. 
They  were  then  funded  by  the  doctor  at  twenty 
(hillings.  By  a  ipecial  act  of  Congrefs,  to  which  he 
gave  his  vote,  an  hundred  and  twenty  or  an  hundred 
and  fifty  thoufand  dollars  of  his  precious  commo- 
dity were  transferred  from  the  public  flocks  into 
the  (lock  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  There 
the  Doctor  draws  eight  per  cent*  of  intereflfor  the 
nominal  amount  of  a  fum  of  which  the  principal 
originally  coft  him  but  ten  per  cent.  In  plainer 
words,  he  advanced  as  it  were  ten  dollars  to  i'erve 
his  country,  and,  by  various  fteps,  he  now  draws 
an  yearly  intereft  for  them,  at  the  moderate  rate  of 
eight  dollars.  A  nation  cannot  help  flourifhing, 
when  under  the  atifpices  of  fuch  a  difinterefted  le- 
giilator. 

The  point  in  view,  by  the  breach  of  the  above  Han- 
ding rule,  was,  to  remove  Mr.  John  Beckley  from 
his  office  as  Clerk  of  Congrefs,  an  office  which  he  has 
held  ever  fince  theoperation  of  the  new  government- 
There  was  not  a  member  in  the  houfe,  who  could, 
even  in  the  fmalleft  degree,  impeach  his  of- 
ficial conduct.  This  made  it  neceffary  to  exclude 
him  by  a  filent  vote.  The  motion  was, carried  by 
forty-one  voices  again  ft  forty.  Mr.  Beckley  may 
now,  like  Sully,  find  leifure  to  write  an  hiftory  of 
the  abominations  to  which  he  has  been  a  witnefs* 
His  talents  are  equal  to  the  tafk,  and  he  cannot  rei> 
der  America  a  more  important  fervice. 

From  what  has  been  faid  about  the  fale  of  cer- 
tificates, it  is  not  inferred  that  every  purchafer  of 
at  an  inferior  price,  acted  clifhoneftly.     No 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

'. 

certainty  exifted  of  their  being  funded  by  the  new 
government.,  and  much  lefs  of  their  being  funded 
at  the  full  nominal  value.  It  was  a  lottery  where- 
of no  one  could  tell  the  proportion/of  prizes.  The 
blame  in  fpeculating  refted  entirely  with  thole  mem- 
bers of  Congrefs  who  bought  up  the  certificates  at 
a  cheap  rate,  with  the  view  of  thereafter  voting 
for  their  being  funded  at  the  full  price ;  or  who 
gave  fuch  a  vote  with  an  eye  to  fubfequent  pur- 
chafes.  Amongother  defects  of  the  new  government^ 
one  was  that  the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives  confilled 
pnly  of  fixty-five  members.  This  number  was  too 
Imall,  and  twenty,  joined  together,  by  the  facred 
bond  of  paper-jobbing,  were  next  to  certain  of  car- 
rying any  point  about  which  they  were  anxious. 

On  the  id  of  January,  1790,  this  domeftie  debt 
amounted,  in  principal  and  intereft,  to  forty  milli- 
ons, two  hundred  and  fifty-fix  thoufand  dollars*- 
A  majority  of  each  houie  voted  for  funding  the 
whole  mafs  at  its  nominal  value.  How  many  mil- 
lions belonged  to  themfelves  cannot  be  afcertained 
until  the  arrival  of  that  day,  which  is  to  difclofe 
all  human  fecrets.  Thus  did  the  nation  fuffer  a  do* 
zen  or  perhaps  thirty  {peculators  to  fit  as  judges 
upon  their  own  job. 

A  member  of  Congrefs  might,  on  this  occafion, 
be  very  fitly  compared  to  an  attorney  whom  you 
lend  into  court  to  make  the  beft  compofition  that 
be  can  with  your  jufl  creditors.  They  had  heard 
of  your  being  partly  infolvent,  and  offer  to  tran£- 
Fer  their  claims  for  an  eighth  part  of  their  nominal 
amount.  It  is  the  bufinefs  of  your  agent  to  take 
advantage  of  this  junclure  ;  inftead  of  which  he 
clandeftinely  buys  up  all  thofe  debts  againffc  you-> 
at  the  reduced  price,  for  which  his  funds  afford 

*  Gallatin,  p.  96. 


UNITED   STATES.  119 

him  ability.  To  0-elter  himfelf  in  a  croud,  he  en- 
courages other  adventurers  to  buy  up  all  the  re- 
maing  debts  againfl  you  in  the  fame  way.  He  theia 
comes  forward,  in  name  of  himfelf  and  his  a£ 
fociates,  and  compels  you  to  give  a  mortgage  for 
forty  millions  of  dollars,  when  he  could,  in  reali- 
ty, have  rid  you  of  the  whole  fum  for  five  milli- 
ons. You  would  not  think  that  fuch  an  attorney 
had  difcharged  his  truft  with  fidelity.  You  never 
would  employ  him  again.  It  is  even  poflible  that  he 
might  be  turned  out  of  his  profeffion.  Within  the 
lafl  twenty  years,  Mr.  Alexander  M'Kenzie,  an  at- 
torney at  Edinburgh,  was  employed  to  fell  an  e£- 
tate.  At  the  time  and  place  publicly  appointed, 
no  purchafer  appeared,  and  Mr.  M'Kenzie  bought 
it  up  in  his  own  name.  Several  of  his  brethren, 
men  above  being  fufpefted  of  collnfion,  attended 
the  whole  tranfaction,  and  gave  evidence  that  they 
had  no  jealoufy  of  unfair  dealing.  Thq  price  it- 
felf,  though  alledged  to  be  fbmewhatlow,  was  not 
much  under  the  mark.  Yet  the  Court  of  Seffion 
declared  that  no  factor  could  buy  and  fell  at  the 
fame  time.  They  reverfed  the  bargain,  and  the 
houfe  of  peers  confirmed  their  decree.  But,  if 
Mr.  M'Kenzie  had  been  directed  to  buy  an  eftate 
at  its  market  price  of  two  thoufand  five  hundred 
pounds,  and  if  he  had  firft  procured  it  for  himfelf, 
and  thereafter  forced  his  client  to  pay  twenty  thou^ 
fand  pounds  for  it*,  his  gown  would  have  been 
torn  from  his  fhoulders.  The  firft  glance  from 
the  bench  would  have  announced  the  annihilation 
of  his  fcheme. 

Of  the  above  forty  millions  of  dollars,  a  fmall 
part  was  funded  at  only  three  per  cent,  though  witk 

'  This  proportion  of  one  to  eight  is  laid  down  by  Mr.  Gallatin 
as  the  medium  difference  between  the  market  price>  and  the  fu$ 
at  which  the  certificates  were  funded. 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

the  profpeet  of  certain  advantages,  necdlefs  here  to 
be  explained,  which  were  fuppofed  to  place  it 
on  a  level  in  value  with  the  remainder  of  the  debt. 
Another  part,  though  but  a  {mall  one,  was  funded 
In  name  of  original  creditors,  the  men  with  pal- 
lies  and  rheum atifms  caug'at  on  board  of  the  Old 
Jerfey,  with  wooden  legs  and  weather-beaten  faces, 
whofe  very  looks  are  dilguftingto  2  friend  of  order, 
Thefe  heroes  promoted  an  American  revolution, 
when  we  were  fifty  times  lefs  heavily  taxed  than 
any  other  fubjects  of  the  Britifh  crown.  They 
began  a  rebellion  when  its  expence,  for  a  finglc 
week,  exceeded  the  value  of  all  the  taxes  that  Eng- 
land had  either  got  or  allied  for  the  preceding 
twenty  years.  HUNG  tu  Romane  caveto.  After 
fuch  doings,  they  are  unfit  to  be  trui'led  under  any 
government. 

For  the  fake  of  round  numbers,  and  to  be  con- 
fiderably  under  the  fact,  ftippofe  that  only  twenty 
four  millions  of  dollars,  out  of  the  above  forty,  had 
been  funded  in  the  name  of  purchafers  at  half  a 
crown  per  pound.  The  intereft,  at  fix  per  cent, 
comes  to  fourteen  hundred  and  forty  thoufand  dol- 
lars per  annum.  If  this  fum  had  remained  in  the 
pockets  of  thofe  who  pay  it,  we  (hould  have  been 
faved  from  many  of  the  burdenfoine  taxes  which 
are  fo  heavy  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  lea-port 
towns  ;  and  more  or  lefs  fo  upon  every  part  of  the 
country.  Again,  thole  traders  or  manufacturers, 
who  pay  fuch  taxes,  muft  always  acid  more  than  the 
net  addition,  to  indemnify  thenifelves  for  the  trou- 
ble which  attends  it,  as  well  as  for  the  advance  of 
money '*.  The  enormous  dearth  of  labour  mufh 
partly  be  deduced  from  this  caufe,  and  it  produces, 
in  an  hundred  different  ways,  inconvenience  and 

*  This  circumfiance  has  been  fully  explained,  and  proved  in  Th 
Political  Pwgrefs  of  Britain* 


UNITED    STATES. 

fcackvv'ardnefe  to  all  forts  of  bnfmefs.  The  ex- 
pence  of  collecting  or  borrowing  the  money  forms 
alfo  a  ferious  item  ;  and  all  thefe  together,  make 
a  real  lofs  to  the  public,  by  thefe  twenty- four  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  not  merely  of  fourteen  hundred 
and  forty  thoufand  dollars,  but  of  at  leaft  three 
millions.  This  equals  the  whole  principal  fum 
that  the  buyers  of  the  twenty-four  millions  advan- 
ced. Thus  nominally  we  pay  about  fifty  per  cent, 
but  in  reality,  at  the  lowed,  an  hundred  per  cent* 
of  intereft  for  the  fum  truly  given  before  hand. 

The  common  body  of  creditors  muft  have  been 
very  glad  to  fee  fix  millions  of  dollars  This  would 
have  doubled  their  principal  and  made  a  very  fnug 
adventure.  Judging  by  the  ftatute  of  limitations, 
and  other  defperate  leaps  of  congreiTional  economy, 
we  may  be  perfectly  fure  that  other  creditors  would 
not  have  got  one  flxpeneemore  than  they  really  ad- 
vanced, if  it  had  not  been  to  ferve  as  a  fcreen  for 
the  full  gratification  of  Camillus  and  his  myrmi- 
dons. They  have  ever  fince  been  conftantly  ha- 
ranguing the  public  about  confpiracies.  The  great  eft 
rogue  always  turns  king's  ivitncjs,  fays  the  proverb. 
Nothing,  fince  the  new  conftitution,  has,  within  an 
hundred  degrees,  as  much  the  appearance  of  a  con- 
fpiracy  as  this  certificate  bufmefs,  unlefs,  perhaps, 
the  uproar  which  forced  Congrefs  to  ratify  the  Bri- 
tifli treaty. 

This  was  the  dawning  fcene  of  that  government 
whofe  wifdom  and  virtue  have  refounded  through 
the  four  quarters  of  the  globe.  The  annals  of  an- 
cient or  modern  finance  record  not  a  more  deform- 
ed tranfaftion.  In  the  black  luxuriance  of  Roman 
rapine,  a  more  pregnant  field  never  exercifed  the 
ferocious  contempt  of  Claudian,  or  the  majefUcfe- 
verity  of  Juvenal.  If  imperial  Rome  could  boaft 
•f  her  Sejanus,  and  Byzantium  of  her  Rufinus,  the 

R 


122  HISTORY    OF   THE 

the  future  hiflorian  of  federal  glory,  may  brighten 
the  tints  of  his  canvas,  and  refrefh  the  verdure  of 
his  laurel,  by  the  congenial  names  of  Hamilton  * 
and  of  Smith. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Briti/h  piracies  en  ^American /hipping  in  1796. — Cafe 
ofthefchooner  John . — Of  Capt.  Samuel  Green , — 
Briti/h  privateers  built  in  the  United  States. — 
Skirntifh  in  Port  Jeremie  bet-ween  the  Americans 
and  Capt.  Reynolds. — Impreffments  by  the  Severn , 
the  Hermoine,  and  the  Regulus. — Twelve  j4meri- 
cans  -whipt. — Cafe  of  the  brig  Fanny. — Of  the  fliip 
f Bacchus. — 'The  Swallow. — The  Paragon . — The 
Voluptas. — The  Lydia.—The  Hannah. — Fray  at 
Liverpool  ;  androut  of  aprejs-gang. — The  Friend- 
fnip. — The  Ocean* — Letter  from  Samuel  Bayard. — 
The  brig  Polly. — Vigilance  of  the  American  fo- 
rtes.— The  Hannah  of  Baltimore. — The  f  hip  Dt- 
ana,  of  New-York. — The  fhipP  oily,  Capt  am  Mayo. 

MR.  BACHE  has  compiled  two  volumes  of 
fpeeches  on  Jay's  treaty,  which  were  made 
in  the  Houfe  of  Keprefentatives  of  Congrefs,  in 
fpring,  1796.  It  would  have  been  a  fervice  of  ftill 
more  confequence  to  this  country,  if  he  had  re- 
printed a  collection  of  the  various  narratives  of 
Britlfh  piracy  on  American  veflels  in  the  Weft-In- 
dies. This  monument  of  bucanneering  might  have 
ferved  as  an  ufeful  curb  to  national  vanity,  and 
have  taught  us,  if  not  quite  incurable  on  that  fide, 

*  Excife  kas  gone  down  in  other  countries  >  and  it  SHALL  go  donvn  in 
this.  Thefe  were  the  words  of  Cannllus,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Treafury,  to  Mr,  Ifaac  Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  when  confulted  about 
thefnuffaa. 


UNITED    STATES.  123 

to  apprehend  the  meannefs  of  our  prefent  maritime 
condition.  The  devaluation  has  been  going  on,  with 
different  degrees  of  violence,  flnce  the  fummer  of 
1793.  A.  complete  account  of  thefe  piracies  would 
very  far  exceed  our  prefent  limits.  A  few  exam- 
ples are  here  felecled  from  the  mafs  ;  and  begin- 
ning with  the  early  part  of  the  year  1796  ;  feveral 
mifcellaneous  anecdotes  and  obfervations  being  oc- 
cafionally  interfperied. 

A  Salem  newipaper,  of  March  8th,  mentions  the 
arrival  of  the  fchooner  John,  captain  Philip  Saun- 
ders,  from  Jamaica.  While  he  lay  there,  an  Eng- 
lifh  officer  and  five  men,  from  a  (loop  of  war,  came 
on  board  to  imprefs  his  crew.  Only  one  of  them 
happened  to  be  on  board,  befides  the  mate  and  a 
boy.  The  reft  were  on  (bore  on  bufinefs.  The  gang 
took  the  failor.  On  being  told  that  he  was  an  Ame- 
rican, they  replied  that  they  knew  this,  but  wanted 
men,  and  would  have  them,  whatever  might  be  die 
confequence.  Captain  Saunclers  went  on  board  of 
the  floop  of  war,  to  reclaim  hisfeaman.  The  com- 
mander told  him  to  go  back  to  his  own  veffel,  make 
out  his  account  of  the  wages  due  to  the  hand,  and 
fend  them  and  his  clothes  to  the  floop.  In  €afe  of 
non-compliance,  he  was  threatened  with  a  flogging* 
Whether  he  obeyed  this  order,  we  are  not  told. 
The  reft  of  the  crew  were  fecreted  on  (bore  by  the 
captain,  for  ten  days,  till  the  {loop  of  war  failed,  as 
her  declared  defign  was  to  imprefs  the  whole.  Du- 
ring this  time,  the  fchooner  lay  expofed  to  the 
weather,  as  well  as  the  infults  of  the  floop  of  war, 
without  any  perfon  to  take  care  of  her,  except  the 
captain,  his  mate,  and  the  boy.  The  (loop's  crew 
confifted  of  eighty-fevenmen.  Of  thefe,  thirty-five 
were  faid  to  be  Americans,  who  had  been  impreffed 
in  the  Weft-Indies.  Such,  at  the  diftance  of  twenty 
months,  was  the  fu.cc.efs  of  Jay's  'appeal  to  themag-- 


124  HISTORY   OF   THE 

nammity  of  George  Guelph,  and  of  his  kitting  the 
hand  of  u  the  meat,  drink,  fnuff,  and  diamond- 
<c  loving  dame."  Captain  Satinders  further  inform- 
ed, that  £veral  veffels  belonging  to  the  fouthern 
ffcates,  were  lying  at  Jamaica,  when  he  left  it,  with- 
out feamen  to  navigate  them  home.  The  crews  had 
been  imprefTed. 

The  fame  pofl  brought  an  article  from  the  Mi- 
nerva, which  is  in  admirable  unifon  with  the  pre- 
ceding narrative.  An  entertainment  had  been  given, 
a  few  months  before,  at  Amfterdam,  where,  a  the 
c  portrait  of  our  beloved  WaChington,  was  exhi- 
<c  ted -as  the  chief  decoration  of  the  room."  Wcb- 
fber  then  gives  a  long  rhapfocly,  pronounced  by 
fome  Dutchman,  on  the  Pref'dent,  "  As  a  Cato  in 
c  council  5  a  Caefar  in  the  field  ;  a  Hercules  in  the 
c  political  tempeft  5  the  fcourge  and  admiration  of 
<c  proud  Aloion  ;  Columbia's  bulwark,"  Sec.  Sec. 
Mynheer  fhould  rather  have  faid  the  jotting-block  of 
proud  Albion,  from  which  (lie  vaulted  into  the  fad- 
die  of  lea-robbery ;  for  now,  fince  the  mountain 
of  compenfation  hath  been  happily  brought  to  bed 
of  its  moufe,  all  parties  muft,  in  their  hearts,  agree, 
that,  from  the  day  when  Jefferfon  left  his  office*, 
our  BritiOi  concerns  could  not  have  been  more 
wretchedly  managed  than  they  adhially  have  been. 
If  Hercules  had  permitted  Cacus  to  keep  his  fiolen 
oxen,  the  infertion  of  his  name  would  have  been 

more  intelligible.  As  for  Cxfar  and  Cato but  ife 

is  needlefs  to  tread  upon  imbecility. 

Early,  as  it  feems,  in  the  year  1796,  captain  Sa- 
muel Green  made  a  voyage  from  Norfolk,  in  Virgi- 
nia, to  Martini co.  He  had  the  command  of  a  fafi> 
failing  fchooner,  of  three  hundred  barrels  burden, 
and  carried  a  cargo  for  the  Britifh  at  that  iflandK. 

i  ft  of  January,  1 794.0. 


UNITED  STATES. 

On  his  arrival,  the  confignee  (hewed  him  a  bill  of 
fale  of  the  velfel,  and  told  him,  that  he  was  no 
longer  m after,  becaufe  the  fchooner  was  bough]:  for 
the  Britifh  government,  and  to  be  fitted  out  as  a 
privateer.  If  captain  Green  choie  to  remain  on 
board,  he  was  told  that  he  might  have  employment. 
This  offer  he  refufed.  Several  of  the  failors  were 
imprefjed  by  the  Britiffi.  Others  were  enticed  to  en- 
ter as  volunteers  in  the  different  (hips.  This  was 
the  treament  which  other  American  crews,  in  the 
fame  trade,  met  with  as  well  as  his.  Thefe  priva- 
teers, when  thus  fitted  out,  were  to  intercept  our 
Shipping  in  their  way  to  the  Weft-Indies.  Thus  the 
United  States  furnifhed  privateers  and  feamen  for 
the  deftru&ion  of  their  own  commerce.  This  is 
one  proof,  among  many,  of  the  indifference  of 
fome  American  owners  to  the  perfonal  iafety  of 
their  failors.  Captain  Green  arrived  from  Marti- 
nico  at  Baltimore,  about  the  i^th  of  March,  1796. 
Ke  related  the  above  particulars  to  Colonel  Low- 
ry  of  that  town,  who  gave  them  for  publication 
to  the  author.  Put  the  cafe,  that  a  merchant  of 
Liverpool  were  to  freight  a  vefTel  for  Calais  or  Pe- 
terfburg,  with  the  previous  but  concealed  certain- 
ty before  him,  that  the  fhip  was  to  be  fold,  the 
captain  turned  adrift  without  warning,  and  the 
crew  to  be  feduced  or  prefTed  into  the  Ruffian  or 
the  French  fervice.  The  attefted  recital  of  fuch 
a  fad  would  make  the  owner  completely  odious  to 
the  public.  But,  in  this  country,  a  feries  of  fuch 
tranfaftions  does  not  excite  the  fmalleft  emotion, 
or  even  attention.  About  twenty-five  years  ago, 
an  Engliih  failor  at  Dantzic,  was  entrapped  by  a 
recruiting  party,  belonging  to  the  late  king  of  Pru£- 
iia.  The  man  got  a  letter  conveyed  to  England, 
and  though  Frederic  pofTefFed,  in  all  its  vigour, 
faculty  of  retention,  yet  he  found  it  jjgcdfary 


|26  HISTORY    OF   THE 

to  give  Jack  his  freedom.  The  ftory  was  printed 
In  the  Englifh  newfpapers,  and  became,  for  a  fhort 
time,  a  topic  of  converfation.  Compare  this  fen- 
fibility  to  national  rights,  with  the  felfifh  American 
apathy,  and  fay  which  of  the  two  countries  has  the 
greateft  appearance  of  being  enlightened. 

A  newfpaper  of  this  city,  of  the  i5th  of  March, 
1796,  contained  a  narrative  fubfcribed  by  Jacob 
Peterfon,  mailer  of  the  (loop  Polly,  of  Philadelphia. 
He  fays  that,  on  the  29th  of  January,  a?p6,  he  ar- 
rived at  cape  Nicola  Mole,  where  he  had  fcarcely 
caft  anchor,  when  the  Syren,  a  Britifh  fixty-four, 
prefFed  one  of  his  beft  feamen.  On  the  31(1,  he 
failed  for  Jercmie.  While  he  remained  in  that 
port,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  of  the  9th 
of  February,  captain  Reynolds,  of  the  Harriot,  a 
Britifh  armed  (hip  in  government  fervice,  manned 
his  boat  and  prefTed  fever al  American  feamen  from 
different  (hips  in  the  harbour.  He  began  with  the 
ihip  Carolina,  of  Baltimore,  captain  Lufher. 

Next  day,  Reynolds,  when  on  fhore,  fwore  that 
he  would  that  night  make  a  fweep  among  the  Ame- 
ricans. The  latter,  hearing  of  this  threat,  afiem- 
bled  them! elves  into  two  veffels  that  lay  in  the  har- 
bour, one  of  them  the  brig  Richard  and  James  of 
Philadelphia,  and  the  other  the  fchooner  Eliza  of 
Baltimore.  About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a 
boat  full  of  armed  men  was  obferved  coming  from 
the  Harriot  towards  the  Eliza.  She  was  hailed  and 
enjoined  to  keep  her  -diftance.  Reynolds  caufed 
his  men  to  fire.  This  was  returned ;  and,  after 
fometime,  the  boat  went  off.  She  came  back  with 
a  frefh  fupply  of  men,  and  again  found  it  prudent 
to  retire.  The  people  in  the  Eliza  then  went  on 
board  of  the  Richard  and  James.  Reynolds  went 
on  fhore,  obtained  a  reinforcemt,  and  came  back 
to  a  third  aflault.  Finding  the  Eliza  deferted  he 


UNITED    STATES.  127 

gave  up  the,  attempt.  In  this  conteft,  the  Britifh 
faid  that  they  had  Seventeen  men  killed  or  woun- 
ded. The  Americans  had  one  killed,  and  one 
wounded. 

The  above  account,  as  to  what  happened  at  port 
Jeremie,  was  almofl  immediately  confirmed  by  the 
arrival  of  captain  Webb,  of  the  brig  Nymph.  Cap- 
tain Webb  added,  that  the  Americans  had  prefented 
a  petition  to  the  commandant  at  Jeremie,  admiral 
Murray,  for  the  recovery  of  their  impreffed  men, 
and  fatisfaftion  for  the  behaviour  of  Reynolds* 
Murray  anfwered,  that  he  had  given  no  orders  for 
the  imprefs,  and  that  he  would  ufe  his  influence  to 
get  the  men  reftored  ;  but,  when  captain  Webb  left 
Jeremie,  there  was  no  appearance  of  that  taking 
place.  The  anfwer  of  Murray  was  mere  mockery. 
Reynolds  durfl  not  have  fired  a  piftol  againft  the 
real  inclination  of  the  admiral.  A  Britifh  officer, 
in  the  river  Thames,  durft  no  more  imprefs  a  fear- 
man  without  orders,  than  he  durft  fet  fire  to  the 
city.  For  the  bare  lofs  of  fo  many  men,  indepen- 
dent of  other  circumftances,  he  would  have  been 
called  to  a  moft  fevere  account,  even  at  Jeremie, 
unlefs  he  had  a&ed  by  exprefs  orders,  or  conniv- 
ance. 

On  this  affair,  Webfter  has  a  curious  para- 
graph*. In  fpite  of  his  Britim  penfion,  it  was  ne- 
cefTary  to  fave  appearances,  by  faying  fomething 
about  it.  Accordingly  he  obferves,  that,  "  hereto- 
"  fore,  this  villainous  bufinefs  has  been  juftified 
c  under  the  pretence,  that  the  men  were  Britifti 
;c  fubjefts,  and  indeed  this  has  often  been  the  f aft; 
'  but  thefe  lawleis  fellows  now  openly,  #nd  avow- 
"  edly  take  Americans/'  The  heretofore  infinuates 
an  untruth ;  becaufe,  from  the  beginning^  multi- 

*  Minerva,  March  17,  1796. 


I28  HISTORY    OF    THE 

tudes  of  Americans  were  taken  withput  any  fuck 
pretence.  C£  As  the  admiral/'  fays  Webfter,  "  did 
"  not  juftify  him  (Reynolds)  it  is  poffible  the  inful- 
a  ted  Americans  may  obtain  redreis,  and  we  pre- 
"  fume  [and  what  is  your  reafon  for  that pre/i&top* 
"  tion?~\,  all  imprelTments  are  made  without-  orders 
"  from  the  Brit  if  h  government."  [1  he  beft  and 
only  rcdrejs  will  be,  when  the  French  mall  burn 
Plymouth  and  Dover.] — cc  Their  ccnduft  is  now> 
"  if  po Tible,  aggravated,  as  it  is  a  direft  violation 
ct  of  the  treaty  ;"  which,  to  England,  is  of  equal 
concern  with  the  violation  of  a  pancake.  As  for 
acting  without  orders,  that  is  the  conftant  fham. 
Dorchefter  was  faidto  act  'without  orders ,  when,  on 
the  loth  of  February,  1794,  he  made  his  famous 
or  infamous  fpeech  to  the  favages.  Simcoe,  un~ 
doubtedly,  afted  alfo  'without  arders,  when  he  fent 
a  body  of  BritiQi  regulars  and  Detroit  militia,  to 
aflifc  the  Indians  in  affaulting  fort  Recovery.  The 
*ank  and  file,  with  their  faces  blacked,  and  fhc 
three  Britifh  officers  drcfled  in  fcarlet,  who  kept  at 
a  dillance,  in  the  rear,  arid  directed  the  motions  of 
the  Putawatimes,  were  certainly  acling  likewifc 
'without  orders.  Nay  farther,  Henry  Knox,  late  Se- 
cretary at  War,  did  infallibly  act  'without  order r, 
when  he  refufed  to  give  the  newfprinters  a  copy 
of  the  long  and  important  letter  from  Wayne,  gi- 
ving evidence  of  thefe  facts*. 

*  This  is  not  a  hearfay.  Not  more  than  a  fixth  part  of  the  let- 
ter could  be  obtained.  The  late  Mr.  Andrew  Brown,  was  in  the 
"War-Office,  trying  to  get  a  full  tranfcript  for  the  Philadelphia  Ga- 
zette, and  both  he  and  others  met  with  a  refufal.  They  received, 
befides  a  lif;  of  the  killed  and  uounded,  or.ly  fome  fcraps  which 
make  up  a  paragraph  of  about  thirty  lines.  Nothing  was  fuffered 
to  tranfpire  in  the  public  prints  that  could  place  the  behaviour  of 
Simcoe  in  a  proper  light. 

But,  on  the  2ift  of  November,  1794,  it  was  thought  proper  to 
lead  this  difpatch  to  Congrefs,  with  fomc  depofuions  that  had  like- 


UNITED    STATES.  129 

On  the  i  jth  of  March,  1796,  Mr.  Samuel  Smith, 
prcfented  to  the   Houie.  of  Representatives  a  pro- 
teft  taken  by    captain  John  Green,  of  a  Baltimore 
brig,  trading  to  the  Weft-Indies.     He  depofed  that, 
when  he  was  at  capeNichola  Mole,  he  was  on  boa?  d 
a  fc  ho  oner  from  Virginia,  where  he  law  two  of  the 
crew,  native  Americans,  imprefTed  by  'the  officers 
of  the  Britifh  ihip  Severn.  O,e  of  the  m~n  was  af- 
terwards returned  as  unfit  for  duty.     The  comman- 
der of  the  Severn  faid,  that  he  aorized,  by 
the  late  treaty,  to  tc."-            #mcn  wl  igt  pi  p- 
tections  from  the  Uiuttfd  States..    In  faying  thi 
paid  a  compliment  to  Jay's  treaty  which  it  t 
merit.      All  feamen,   whether  \vltli  protect  I-;-:  s   cr 
without  them,    are  alike  unnoticed  by  tha 
On -prefenting  this  prat-eft,  s.;i   Jnfijgaificant 
cnfued  in  the  home.     The  question  wan,   wit. 
it  fhould  be  referred  to  the  felect    committee  on 
American  feamen,  or  to  the  Secretary  at  "War,  thst 
the  President  -might  make  fuitable  reprefentations 
to    the  Britifli   government.     It   was  remitted   to 
the  committee.     Congrels  might  as  well  have  deli- 
berated, whetheir  the  protefl  fnou.ld  be  call  under 
the  table,  or  into  the  fire. 

wife  been  kept  fecret.  The  latter  flic  wed.  in  the  ftron^eft  light,  t'-.e 
extreme  averfion  of  the  Indians  to  fight  Wayne,  and  the  artifices  of 
the  Britifli  to  make  them  do  fo.  A  perfor.  who  overheard  the  p.i- 
'pers  read,  obtained,  a  considerable  time  after,  perrniilion  to  copy 
them  from  the  repofitories  of  Congrefs.  '  So  late  as  May,  1 796,  they 
were  fuccefilvely  printed  in  the  Maryland  Journal,  the  Aurora,  and 
the  Argus.  Mr.  M'HPenry,  now  Secretary  at  War  beinpj  greatly 
furprifed  at  their  appearance,  wrote  a  letter  to  one  of  thefe  prin.'c-rs, 
intreating  toknow  which  of  his  clerks  in  the  war-office  had  betrayed 
oHicial  confidence  ;  and  afiuring  the  printer,  that  if  he  would  ^ive 
up  the  nam?  of  this  correfpondeat*  //'v  mads  ofdifcwery  fionld  be  can- 
cccJsd.  Such  is  the  minute  vigilance  of  the  American  cabinet !  sod 
'fo  culpable  it  is  to  let  the  people  become  acquainted  with  their  own, 
T)ufine$!  In'reply,  the  Secretary  was  aiTured  of  the  entire  inr.p- 
xrcnce  of  all  his  clerks,  and  sdvi'iVd  to  proceed  with  his  i 


j3o  HISTORY    OF   THE 

The   Philadelphia    newfpaners   of  the   i8th  of 
ch,  related  that  captain  IVPKeever,  of  the  orig 
?oie,  failed  from  Port-au-Friiice,  on  the 
25TU  uary,  preceding    The  captain  faid  that 

while  he  lay  there,  the  Hermione  frigate  preyed, 
fi>>  ,)  tiiiie  to  time,  a  vafl  number  of  American  fea- 
uv:.aii  oat  of  different  veflels.  On  a  moderate  cal- 
culation, tiu-i-t/r.rds  cf  his  crew  lucre  Americans. 

The  "'•.!?£ ul us,  another  frigate,  preiled  all  hands 
of  fill  nations  indifcriminatcly,  who  could  not  pro- 
duce protections.  Thole  who  rtvV,'Vd  to  do  duty 
werewhipt.  Four  dsys  before  cspt.  M'Keever  left 
Fori-aa-Prince,  twelve  American  feamen  were  re- 
.1  on  fhore  from  'the  Ilegulus,  nfter  receiving 
{ever::!  la-^es  for  having  utterly  ref:icd  to  do  duty 
or  be  her.  The  reft  of  the  irnprei^edmen,  in 

thcie  two  frigates,  had  found  it  prudert  to  comply 
\1?ith  ,s  was  the  treatment  of 

o"r  ie^mi^n  :hs  after  ^be  Hgning-  of  Jay's 

onrrrefs  began  to  debate, on  the 
ty  of^cceprtrangitj 

-REMARKS  from  t-.<s  bri*  Fmmy's  kv-bcok,  William  S-ivtx- 
•:•;,  mqfter,  f^oTn  the  Wt/r- Indies^  arrived  at  N^ui-York^ 

•  21,'t  cf  March,  1796. 

.';i  "L  iiurviay,  janu:ijv  28,  1796,  at  five  P.  M.  was 
^boarded  off  St.  "George's"  bay,  Grenada,  by  the  Zebra's 
^  bcmt  (a  Britilh  lleop  t>f  war),  vvlio  irriprtiicd  oneofthepeo- 
4f-  oK\  Jc'hn  Burt,  being  born  in  the  United  Siate-s,  and  having 
u  a  r  ^ti'ar  prc-tcclion.  I  accordingly  made  application  to  the 
ct  coii.uKindiriii;  ofHcer,  in  ij.xp.-xLition  of  getting  him  clear,  but 
u  to  none  effect ;  their  ai^V/cr  vVdS,  ilgy  wanted  men  and  mitfl 
u  I/true  them. 

u  On  Monday,  February  oth,  ?ttwop.   M.  was  boarded  by 
u  the  Mermaid's  bo;it,  a  -,\  \vho   imprefTLd  one  of 

4t  the  IT; en  (he  not  being:  a  ISritilh  fubjedt),  and  over'iauled  us 
"  very  ilriclly  on  fufpicion  of  rry  having  iailors  ftovvc-d  away. 
is  Tirat  fair  it-  night  I  went  on  board  to  folicit  for  my  rnajri. 
"  After  cbtiimiuiiqating  to  th.c  captain  my  errand,  he  told  nic 
i(  i^e  v/as  ccitaia  1  !ud  men  ftov/ed  away,  and  he  would  kud 


*  UNITED  STATES.  131 

"  his  boat  on  board,  and  overhaul  us  from  krel  to  pjunv,:!  : 
"  after  giving  me  much  abufive  langur.jre,  f.iid   'fciwul 
"  »w,  <W  *//  /  £,7//  o«  ^rk     Accordingly,  the  Mermaid's 
"  boat  came  on  board  with  a  great  many  hands,  hove  the  lor,^; 
"  boat  out  of  the  chocks,  hoifted  up  twenty-two  barrels  of  Ix-cf, 
"  rru,ved  p?.rt  of  the  ballaft,  and,  as  the  faying  is,  turned  r'verjr 
"  thing-  upfide  down.     They  went  on  board,  fir  ft  bejflgcon^ 
"  vinced  I  had  no  people  flowed  away.     I  fhortly  after  v, vat 
"  on  board  the  Mermaid  to  fee  if  they  would  (end  the  boat  arid 
"  crew  on  board  to  flow  the  cargo  in  its  proper  place,  as 
"  no  people  10  doit,  and  put  the  boat   in  the  chocks,  & 
«  after  diftrefling  me  all  they  could,  with  ;   <  .  '. -.-, 

"  I  w..is  told  they  ted  uot;e  with  me,  and  hi  -  :ny 

"  buiiaeis,  and  gt:  people  .  1r  re  I  c;)uid. 

u  Shortly  afi> r  I  nuv  got  or. ':  >ard  my  vclTjl.  I  >tte, 

"captain  'Viiliams,  aBrititli  iloop  of  t;-k   gun' ,  feni 
"  on  board,  who  overhauled    ur,  &c.     O;i  i'1    9th,  at    meri- 
"  dian,  with  much  difnc-iky  weighed  anchor,   and  made  Hi, 
"  as  I  could  get  no  redrefs,  and  no  probability  o;  getti   g  h«  idlS. 

"  Shortly  after  was  brought  too  by  a  *hot  ho  ri  th$  al  ove 
"flbop,  and  afrer  we  hove  the  fails  to  the  ma; r-  tight 

u  too,  fhe  fired  no  lefs  than  half  a  dozen  nutlet  i'h  r.  a.<  v.J 
"right  at  us;  but  providentially  we  recciv  o  no  hunnjm 
"  them,  though  I  heard  the  whiule  of  feveral  of  t'-se  bill;?. 

u  After  we  had  laid  fome  time,  they  f  rtt  •  b  >at  on  hoard, 
"  who  rummaged  and  overhauled  ;  but  fed  tig  they  could  find 
"  nothing,  they  returned  onboard. 

"  On  Thurfday,  the  nth,  at  nine  A.  M.  faw  3  floop  to  the 
C5  leeward,  v/hich  fliortly  knew  to  be  the  fame  floop,  that  had 
"  boarded  us  tv/o days  before,  in  St.  George's  bay. 

"  When  file  came  within  a  league  of  us  Ihe  fired,  and  con- 
<e  tinued  to  do  fo,  as  long  as  the  guns  would  bear,  {lie  reaching 
"  one  way  and  we  the  other.  When  (he  got  into  our  wake  (he 
"  tacked  but  did  not  come  up  with  us  untk  two  P.  M.  when  we 
"  tacked,  and  file  fetched  and  brought  us  too  with  anoth.r  mot. 
"  I  received  a  great  deal  of  abufive  language  from  the  captain 
u  without  giving  any  reafons. 

«  He  curfed  and  damned  the  Americans  and  faid  they  were 
"  their  greateft  enemies.  He  faid  he  had  fired  twel  ve  fhot  ?.t  us, 
"  that  I  fhould  pay  two  dollars  for  the  firft,  and  double  for 
"  every  one  after :  however,  I  not  being  willing  to  comply 
«  with  this  unreafonable  requeft,  and  feeing  he  had  no -bufinefs 
«  to  have  fired  at  us,  as  be  had  bgarded  us  the  day  before,  and 


jo2  HISTORY  OF  THE 

41  «;s  hedi:!not  think  fit  to  fend  his  boat  on  board,  he  differed 
u  us  to'i'jt  fail. 

"This  is  a  flier  t  fpccimcn  of  the  ufage  we  meet  with  from 
*c  the  Britifii  cyuizef s  in  the  Weft-Indies,  All  which  I  can 
u  attcil  to;  and  much  more  if  required. 

WILLIAM  SWINBURN." 

•28th  of  March,  1796,1116   (hip  Bacchus, 
rgc,  arrived  at  Philadelphia.      On  the 
sola  he  was  boarded   by  the  Thetis,  a  Britiih  fri- 
he  j-.rciled  his  mate   and  cabin    boy,  en  a 

.  ion  of  iheir  being  Britiih  fuhjects.     The  boy 
was  an  indented  apprentice. 

As  it  iy  proper  to  do  judiceto  all  parties,  it  may 
here  be  noticed  that,  at  this  time,  captain  Burnet, 
oi  the  Brig  George,  arrived  at  Philadelphia  from 
Kingit'on,  and  brought  a  ccmpiairjt  of  the  French 
privateers.  Ke  faicl  that  feveral  of  them  were 
cruiftng  off  Jamaica,  v;ben  he  left  'it.  They  were 
very  tronl  lefonie  to  American  vefTels,  fcmetimes 
plundering  thera  of  their  fca  ilores,  and  otherwife 
behaving(with  the  greateft  Snfolence.  No  farther 

iculars  are  fpecified  ;  and  this  is  the  firft  com- 
;  France,  or  at  moil  the  iecond,  which 

as  yet  occurred  in  collecting  materials  for  the 

nt  llimmary  of  piracies.     At  the  fame  time 
icvenil  articles  of  Britifh  rapine  have  been  omitted 
for  want  of  room.     So  contrafted  at  that  period 
\vas  the  conduct  ofthefetwo  nations  to  this  country. 
A  ;  ian  at  Kingflon  in  Jamaica,  in  a  letter 

to  the  printers  of  the  Maryland  ^Journal,  dated  the 
syth  cf  February  1796,  gave  the  following  par- 
ticulars. The  Argonaut  man  of  war  of  fixty-four 
guns,  had,  a  few  days  before,  Cent  into  Kingflon, 
tvv'o  American  veffels.  The  one  was  the  fchooner 
-v  allow,  captain  Stubbs,  from  Cape  Francois  to 
Ik-icon.  Her  cargo  conllfted  of  cotton  and  coffee, 
with  fix  thoufand  dollars  in  fpecie.  The  whole 


UNITED  STATES.  133 

property  belonged  to  Mr.  Trifdale  of  Bofton.  "1  be 
other  vefTel  was  the  ichooner  Paragon  of  Norfolk, 
laden  with  coiFee,  and  owned  by  Mr.  Moles  Myers 
of  that  town.  In  June,  1794,  coffee  coft  in  re- 
tail, at  Philadelphia,  about  a  /hilling  per  pound. 

In  June,  1795,  ^  na<^  Sot  UP  to  oiie  Billing  and 
four-'pence.  By  November,  1/96,  if  wot  iooner, 
it  rofe  to  two  (hillings  and  four  pence.  The  pira- 
cies juft  now  ftated,  which  are  only  part  of  hun- 
dreds of  the  fame  kind,  explain,  very  fully,  the 
caiUe  of  this  alteration.  The  writer  of  the  above 
letter  added  that  both  vefTels  were  libelled,  and 
that  indeed  none  need  expect  to  cjcapc  that- fate , 
whatever  might  be  the  final  verdicY  about  them. 
The  very  delay,  difappointment,  and  rife  of  infu> 
ranee,  in  confequence  of  fuch  alarms,  impofe  a 
ruinous  tax  on  the  owners,  while,  in  the  mean  time, 
the  lailors  were  frequently  preffed.  Sometimes 
they  were  fweptoff  by  the  yellow  lever  ;  and  car- 
goes of  a  perifhable  nature  were  often  deftroy- 
ed  while  the  fhip  waited  for  a  decifion. 

The  fame  letter  adds  that  the  fchooner  Volnp- 
tas,  Jonathan  Hall,  mailer,  of  Baltimore,  had  been 
fent  into  Kingfton,  by  the  Severn  of  forty-four 
guns.  She  had  on  board  a  valuable  cargo  of  cof- 
fee and  cotton,  and  part  of  an  outward  bound 
freight  of  provifions,  with  a  large  fum  of  money. 
The  fhpercargo^  Kir.  Duncan,  was  going  from 
Gonaives  to  the  Matform,  to  purchafe  coffee  to 
load  the  floop  for  Baltimore.  The  pretence  for 
fending  in  the  Voluptas  was,  that  fhe  carried  pro- 
vifions  for  an  enemy's  port.  At  this  time,  the 
captain  of  the  Severn  had  kept  Mr.  Duncan  a  pri- 
foner  for  fifty-two  days,  and  threatened  to  try 
him,  as  a  Britifh  fubjecl,  for  high  treafon  ;  al- 
though he  had  with  him  a  certificate  of  his  being 
an  American  citizen. 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Captain    Hall,  and  Mr.  Duncan  had    been   f:    t 
prifbners  from  cape  Nichola  Mole  to  :•  art  1 
on   board  the  Lark  man   of  war.     On    tl 
fage,  they -were  put  upon  two-thirds  of  ti.r 
feamen's    allowance  of  fait  beef  and  bread. 

. ;n j  the  letter  doss  not  fay  which,  ;.; 
to  Hrsp  in  the  next  birth  to  the  lieutenant,  ,1  w  -us 
watch  and  money  llolen  out  of  his  pocket.  It  v,  as 
their  opinion  that  the  Severn  had  defigned  to  _(.,.a 
the  ichooner  to  the  bottom,  for  me  run  io  near  as 
to  carry  away  their  bowfprit. 

-  A  few  days  before  the  writing  of  this  letter,  the 
fhip  Lydia,  Robert  Blount,  wifter,  ft  on-  l'ort£- 
mouth  in  New-Hampihire,  had  arrived  at  Kirgf-.on. 
About  four  leagues  to  windward  of  Port-Royal,  he 
had  been  boar-Jed  by  the  Fvegul-is.  She  took  away 
his  mate,  and  four  men.  They  were  all  natives 
of  Portfinouth,  married,  and  had  regular  protec- 
tions. Before  taking  them  on  board,  the  Bi  itifh 
captain  fent  his  furgeon  into  the  Lyclia,  to  examine 
the  men,  and  fee  if  they  were  in  good  >  .ealth.  1  he 
Regulus  had  prefTed  above  fifty  feamen,  went  to 
Port-au-Prince,  and  from  thence  to  England  ;  fo 
that  when  the  Portfinouth  fciilors  were  to  fee  their 
families,  or  whether  they  v  ere  ever  to  iee  them 
at  all,  was  extremely  doubtful. 

The  fame  cor refpon dent  gives  an  account  of  the 
conduct  of  a  French  privateer  to  an  An: .  ru  an  b<  "g 
which,  on  the  I4th  ofFebruary,  had  con, e  in'coKiiigf- 
ton.  This  privateer  had  taken  the  Bntifh  Cuip  Barzil- 
lai,  captainBlackburn,  which  left  Kingfton  on  the  3d 
ofFebruary,  and  was  taken  on  the  yth,  in  light  of 
Port  Royal*.  The  French  put  Blackburn,  with 

*  "  But  the  misfortune  is,  that  men  will  oppofe  imagination  to 
c<  faft.  Though  we  fee  Great  Britain  predominant  on  the/ocean, 
**  though  we  obferve  her  pertinaxfaxjfy  nfifling  the  idea  o 


UNITED  STATES. 

his  whole  private  property,  on  board  of  the  brig. 
In  his  trunk  were  two  bags  of.  money ;  the  plate 
of  die  ihip's  cabin  ;  and  two  bills  of  exchange  to  the 
amount  in  v/liole  of  eight  hunched  pounds.  The 
Frenchman  rud  tnat  he  difaaintdto  t:,ke  any  thing 
from  a  .prifoner,  and  willed  him  a  good  voyage  to 
Ki  iofton.  From  the  brig:  this  jacobin  took  a  bar- 
rel oi?  beef,  and  paid  fifteen  dollars  for  it.  Thus 
far  the  letter  to  the  printers  of  the  Maryland  Jour- 
nal. 

A  Philadelphia  print  of  the  26th  of  March,  1796, 
contained  JAH  extract  of  a  letter  dated  March  2d, 
from  Bermuda.  The  writer  mentions  that  the 
fhip  Hannah,  captain  Hoare,  from  Philadelphia 
to  France,  was,  on  the  241!!  of  February,  taken  by 
the  Lynx  iloop  of  war.  She  ftript  the  Hannah  of 
her  whole  crew,  excepting-  the  mate,  the  cook, 
and  the  cabin  boy,  and  fent  her  into  Bermuda. 
Moil  of  the  hands  impreiFed  had  prcteclions.  The 
captain  of  the  Lynx  had  ipoke,  on  the  day  before, 
with  the  Roebuck  of  Philadelphia,  andfaid  that  he 
was  prevented  from  taking  her  by  a  violent  gale  of 
wind. 

An  article  dated  Salem,  the  22d  of  March,  gives 
what  is  called  verbal  information  by  captain  Blacker. 
Part  of  it  is  in  fubftance  as  follows  : 

On  the  night  of  the  22d  of  January,  1796,  the 
preis  gang  at  Liverpool  crimped  an  American  fea- 
irjan,  having  previouily  ferved  feveral  others  in  the 
fame  way.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  American  Tailors 
afTembled,  went  to  the  houfe  of  rendezvous  of  the 
gang,  and  refcued  their  companion.  -They  placed 
the  officersjof  the  imprefsinthc  centre  of  the  room, 
obliged  the?ti  to  uncover,  arid  give  three  cheers  to 

"  with  France,  &<*."  Camillus,  No.  v.  A  valuable  predominancy, 
when  her  veffels  were  captured  in  fight  of  her  own  ports,  and  almoft 
in  fight  of  her  {hips  of  war! 


136  HISTORY  OF  THE 

the  United  States.  On  the  27th,  another  American 
was  imprefTed.  His  countrymen  again  affembled, 
refcued  the  man,  killed  one  of  the  gang,  threw  ano- 
ther into  the  dock,  where  he  was  drowned,  and  fe- 
verely  beat  the  remainder,  who  lied. 

On  the  -2-d  of  February,  the  American  captains 
were  called  before  the  mayor  and  magistrates  of 
Liverpool.  They  were  admonifhed  to  keep  their 
crews  in  order.  They  made  an  anfwer  which  mufl 
have  occurred  to  any  body  excepting  a  member  of 
Congrefs  vindicating  appropriations  for  the  Britifh, 
treaty.  The  account  adds  that,  from  thence  for- 
ward, the  Americans  were  unmolePced. 

About  the  291!!  of  March,  1796,  the  (hip  Friend- 
jfhip,  captain  Atkins,  arrived  at  Norfolk.  The  cap- 
tain faidthat,  within  the  capes  of  Chefapeake,  he  was 
boarded  by  a  boat  from  the  Thetis,  captain  Coch- 
ran,  which  preOed  a  man  who  had  been  naturalized 
for  ten  years  paft.  As  the  Chefapeake  is  within 
the  territory  of  the  United  States,  the  Britifh  might 
as  decently  have  taken  him  from  the  ftreets  of  Phi- 
ladelphia. A  letter  from  New- York  to  a  merchant  in 
Philadelphia,  dated  the  2d  of  April,  informed  that 
his  fliip,  the  Ocean,  captain  Vredenburgh,  had  been 
taken  on  the  gift  ult.  and  lent  into  Halifax  by  La- 
Prevoyance,  a  Britim  frigate.  The  whole  crew, 
at  the  time  of  writing  the  letter,  were  detained  on 
board  of  the  frigate,  except  the  matter,  the  firft  mate 
and  a  boy.  The  Ocean  was  from  Havre-de-Grace, 
and  the  frigate  took  her,  noi  far  from  the  Highlands, 
with  a  pilot  on  board.  The  Argus,  of  April  4th,  fays, 
that  before  (he  was  difmhTed  for  Halifax,  "  feveral 
u  paffengers  were  mod  gracioudy  permitted  to  jump 
<c  into  the  long  boat,  and  come  up  to  'Slew-York. " 
When  captain  Vredenburgh  remonflrated,  the  Bri- 
tim captain  told  him  that  this  conduct  was  juflified 
by  Jay's  treaty.  Th  e  Minerva  fays  that  the  Ocean 


UNITED    STATES.  137 

was  taken  three  days  before  (he  made  land.  But  the 
Conecticut  goddefs  of  wifdom  is  ^diftinguifhed  for 
want  of  veracity*.  It  is  at  lead  very  uncommon 
to  take  in  a  pilot,  at  fuch  a  diftance  from  fhore  ; 
and  it  is  agreed  that  the  Ocean  had  one.  While 
the  Britifh  were  thus  plundering  American  fhip- 
ping,  Mr.  Pickering  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Samuel  Bayard,  dated  London,  29th  of  December, 
1795.  T'ne  following  extract  appeared,  on  the 
3 1  it  of  March,  1796,  in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette. 

"  In  the  courfe  of  this  next  month,  the  Judge 
<e  of  the  Admiralty  has  authorized  us  to  expedb  an 
"  order  for  the  reftitntion  of  the  vefTels  and  car- 
"  goes  feized  and  fold  by  fir  J.  Jar  vis  and  fir 
''Charles  Grey,  at  Martinico,  St.  Lucia,  and  Gua- 
ic  daloupe. 

ct  In  the  court  of  appeals,  alfo,  two  illegal  fen- 
"  tences  of  the  Vice- Admiralty  Courts,  in  the  Weft- 
"  Indies,  have  lately  been  annulled,  and  the  con- 
ct  duel  of  the  judges  feverely  ceniured  by  the  lords 
"  commi'fioners  of  appeals.7' 

This  intelligence,  as  if  worth  a  perufal,  was 
communicated  by  Mr.  Pickering  to  the  committee 
of  merchants  in  this  city,  appointed  to  fuperintend 
the  bufmefs  of  indemnification.  Nothing  but  the 
blindnefs  of  ioterefted  hope,  could  have  drawn  any 
comfort  from  fuch  an  account.  The  attainment 
of  an  objeft  is  at  a  very  indefinite  diftance  when 
the  parties  are  only  authorized  to  expett.  The  an- 
nulling of  two  piracies,  out  of  five  or  fix  hundred, 
was  merely  cafting  a  tub  to  the  whale.  As  for  the 
cenfure  beftowed  on  the  Weft-Indian  judges,  how 
much  it  was  in  earneft,  and  how  much  it  was  re- 
fpefted,  appears  from  their  perfifting,  at  that  very 
moment,  to  proceed  in  the  fame  track.  There 

*  Webfter  is  a  native  of  that  (late, 
T 


ig8  HISTORY    OF    THE 

could  not  be  a  more  palpable  delufion,  though  in- 
deed the  thinnefs  of  the   difguife  almofl  precludes 
it  from  that  name.     The  Britiih  had  been  plunder- 
American  merchantmen  for  aim  oft  three  years. 
A  treaty,    which  was  to  Hop  evrery  proceeding  of 
the-kind,   had  been  ratified    eight  months   before. 
Yet  ftill   piracy   and  inipreiTmcnt    went  on   at  full 
Vigour.     But  when  we   confider  the  uncommonly 
petrified  ideas   of  many  merchants  in  the  fea- ports 
of  America,  nothing  but.  the  mod  fnivellingtimiclity 
could    be  looked  for.     In  fummer,    1793,    Britifh 
effrontery   declared  the  French  republic  in  a  Jlate 
cf/iege;  and,  under  that  pretence,  confifcated  Ame- 
rican veflTels  freighted    for  any  French  port  with 
provflons,  as   if  France  and  her  colonies  had  only 
been  fome  fortified  town  with  an  area  of  a  fquare 
mile.  At  that  crifis,  merchants  of  eminence  in  this 
city  were  to  be  found  who  vindicated  that  enormous 
robbery.     If,    in  a  fimilar  fltuation,    any  citizen  cf 
London  had  harboured  fuch  feelings,  the  certainty 
of  public  abhorrence  would  at  leaft  have  forced  him 
to  hold  his  tongue.      When  captain  Barney,  about 
time,  made  a  voyage  to  the  Weft-Indies,  and 
declared  his  determination,  if  attacked,    of  giving 
battle  to  the  fucceifors  of  Blackbeard,  the  tory  par- 
ty in  Philadelphia  were  violent  in  his  condemnation, 
A  report  having  reached    the  continent,   that   the 
Engiifh  at  Jamaica  had  refolved  to  hang  him  it  was} 
fpiemnly  pronounced,  in  this  city,   to  be  perfectly 
right  ;  and  that  he  was  an  incendiary  who  wanted 
to  embroil  the  two  countries.     It  was  to  be  expec- 
ted that  fuch  people  would  abominate  the  American 
Annual  Regifler  as  the  veriefl  catch-penny  that  ever 
'was  publifbed,   the  mere  tittle  tattle  of  jacobhiijm* . 
They  are  welcome  to  feel  no  excitement  except  that 

*  See  Gazette  of  the  United  States. 


UNITED    STATES.  139 

of  difguft  at  any  thing  it  contains  ;  for,  if  it  had 
met  with  their  approbation,  it  would  have  com- 
pletely difgufted  its  author,  and  that  clais  of  people 
whom  he  is  chiefly  defirous  of  pleating.  It  cannot 
efcape  obfervation  that  the  abo</e  notice  from  Bay- 
3rd  contains  not  one  lyllable  about  the  impreflinent 
of  failors.  This  blank  in  Jay's  treaty,  and  Bayard's 
commiflion,  may  be  compared  to  the  capitulation  of 
a  general,  who,  without  a  (ingle  ftipulation  about 
protecting  the  lick  and  wounded  men  of  his  army, 
thinks  of  nothing  but  the  fecurity  and  free  depar- 
ture of  his  baggage. 

Captain  Paulding,  of  the  brig  Polly,  in  a  letter 
to  his  owners,  at  New-York,  from  Curracoa,  dafed 
March  gd,  fays,  that  he  had  been  fent  into  Grenada, 
by  the  Favourite  (loop  of  war,  after  (he  had  taken 
from  him  all  his  hands,  with  failing  orders,  letters, 
invoices,  and  bills  of  lading.  He  was  detained  for 
fome  weeks.  At  lenth  he  had  orders  to  depart, 
but  could  not  recover  his  papers.  His  cargo  was, 
he  fays,  confiderably  damaged  by  his  detention.  He 
does  not  tell  whether  he  got  back  any  of  his  men, 
which  is  very  unlikely,  or  by  what  means  he  work- 
ed the  vefTel  to  Curracoa. 

The  Marylandjournal,  ofthe  1 3th  of  April,  1797, 
has  an  extraft  of  a  letter  from  an  American  feaniaii 
dated  Spithead,  December  26th,  I795S  on  board 
the  (hip  Afliftance,  in  which  he  had  been  detained 
from  the  2oth  of  October  preceding.  The  man 
belonged  to  the  Hannah  of  Baltimore,  Captain 
Wefcott.  This  vefTel,  with  four  other  Americans 
had  been  carried  into  St.  John's,  Newfoundland. 
He  exprefTed  a  hope  that  the  Hannah  would  be  li- 
berated. The  printers  added,  that  the  fticklers  for 
Britifli  amity,  might,  upon  calling  at  their  office, 
fee  the  original  letter.  This  intimation  was 
needful  in  the  cafe  where  fuch  an  article  had  not 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

been  copied  from  fome  other  print ;  for,  in  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  and  perhaps  in  every  fea-port-tou  n 
in  the  union,  a  number  of  people  are  conilantly 
ready  to  browbeat  and  even  rain  any  printer  who 
publishes  articles  unfavourable  to  Britain.  Thus, 
at  the  death  of  Dr.  Franklin,  a  newfpaper  of  this 
city  obferved,  that  the  flags  of  the  (hips  in  the  Dela- 
ware were  lowered,  'i  he  printer  unthinkingly 
fubjoined  that  even  the  Britifii*  did  ib.  Next  day 
feveralof  his  fubfcribers  came  into  his  office,  and, 
with  many  reproaches,  threw  up  his  paper.  The 
author  had  the  itory  from  himielf.  Indeed  no  bet- 
ter Itate  of  ibciety  can  be  expected  in  our  fea-ports, 
where  the  whole  mafs  of  Britifh  tories,  who  had 
been  ioing  the  utmoffc  mifchief  in  their  power  to 
this  country,  during  the  revolution, were  permitted, 
al»noft  univerfally,  without  diflinttion,  to  return  and 
mix  upon  a  level  with  the  republican  citizens.  In 
private  morals,  they  were  juft  as  good  as  other 
people.  But,  in  a  political  light,  they  were  at  bed 
concealed,  and  often  profefied  enemies.  In  pri- 
vate life,  no  man  would  lodge  under  his  roof  an  in- 
cendiary who,  for  eight  years,  had  been  attempting 
to  burn  his  houfe.  At  the  lad  election  for  Congrefs, 
in  the  county  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  moft  offici- 
ous of  the  federal  managers  had  formerly  acled  as  a 
Britifli  guide.  He  was,  for  this  offence,  tried  by  the 
flate,  and  very  nearly  hanged.  A  fhoal  of  flmiiar 
examples  might  be  traced. 

The  next  article,  in  the  fame  Mary  land  Journal, 
(hews  in  what  fubjugal ion  the  tories  hold  theprefs. 

*  A  lady,  who  is  very  nearly  related  to  Dr.  Franklin,  had  oc- 
cafion,  fince  his  death,  to  make  a  voyage  to  England.  In  feveral 
fafhionable  companies  fhe  met  with  the  coldeft  treatment,  as  being 
connected  with  the  family  of  a  rebel !  If  George  the  Third  (-{capes 
the  dagger  or  the  fcaffbld,  his  moft  faithful  fubjefts  in  Philadelphia, 
and  they  are  not  few  in  number,  will  have  a  norable  opportunity 
for  bowing  and  fcraping,  on  his  alighting  at  OeUer'a  hotel. 


UNITED    STATES.  141 

Captain  Herring,  from  Jamaica,  had  informed  the 
printers  that,  when  the  Brit;:"h  captured  ana  lent  into 
that  illand  American  veffels,  tLe  failors  were  either 
ti/irned  afhore  to  ftarve,  or  prefied  into  the  Britifli 
fervice.  He  added,  that  all  of  them  received  "  the 
"  moft  indignant  treatment  from  theie  tyrannical 
u  Jea  monjlers  "  For  inferring  ibch  harih  langu  y  e, 
the  printers  made  a  long  and  humble  -ipoJo^rv .  '*.  .  s 
timidity  betrays  a  feature  of  degradation  unknown 
in  France  or  England.  Was  it  ever  heard  of  tart  a 
Britifh  mariner,  on  returning  home  from  a  French 
jail,  durit  not  publifh.  his  complaints  in  a  Britii'h 
newipaper;  or  that  tiie  editor  would  be  forced  to 
apologize  for  giving  him  a  corner*  ? 

Captain  Herring,  aLovementoned,  furnifhed  the 
printer  of  the  journal  with  the  following  lift  of 
vefTels  left  at  Kingfton,  on  the'Sth  of  March  laft, 
which  were  all  prizes  to  the  Argon  ant.  Schooners 
Voluptas,  Hall,  Baltimore;  Active,  Compton,  do.; 
Adelaine,  Stanley,  do.  ;  Fortitude,  Rofs,  do.  ;  Swrd- 

low,    Stubbs,    Bofton  ;  Paragon,    ,    Norfolk  ; 

and  a  number  of  other  velFels,  belonging  to  feve- 
ral  ports  in  the  United  States;  in  all  FIFTY-FIVE. 

The  infatuation  and  flupidity  of  a  certain  fet  of 
people  in  this  country  furpafles  all  description. 
They  embrace  every  opportunity  to  revile  and  ex- 
afperate  the  French,  to  whom  we  were  at  firft  in- 
depted  for  independence,  and  who,  at  this  mo- 

*  Juft  below,  in  the  fame  column,  there  follows  a  firing  of  re- 
folutions  from  Cumberland  countv,  in  the  ftare  of  Maryland,  in 
favour  of  Jay's  treaty.  They  fay  that  "  the  efteem  of  his  fellow. 
"  citizens  is  the  only  reiaard^  which  he  (the  Prefident)  is  willing  to 
"  recieve  for  his  unexampled  fervices."  It  fignifies  nothing  to  chime 
over  this  impertinent  fable  of  the  Prefident  ferving  his  country  for 
nothing.  Yet,  though  he  has  afked  and  received  the  laft  cent  of  his 
two  hundred  thoufand  dollars,  befides  thirteen  thoufand  fix  hundred 
to  affift  him  in  fettitig  up  a  houfe,  the  friends  of  order  will  never 
ceafe  to  prate  that  he  would  accept  of  no  falary. 


I4i  HISTORY    OF    THE 

rnent,  nrc  the  fliield  which  faves  us  from  the  im- 
placable fti  ry  of  Britain . 

On  the  other  hand,  though  they  cannot  deny  the 
fcandalous  conduct:  of  our  bieHcd  mother  country, 
they  do  not  wifh,  if  they  can  help  it,  to  hear  a 
ilrigle  word  upon  the  fubjeet.  Language  of  this 
kind,  can,  they  fay,  be  productive  of  no  good; 
rr.id  it  may  irritate  Britain,  with  whom,  you  know, 
we  are  in  amity. 

A  letter  from  Norfolk,  dated  4th,  and  publi (li- 
ed in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette  on  the  nth  of  April, 
1796,  has  thefe  words. 

"  A  vcfTel,  yefterday,  returned  from  the  Mole, 
<c  which  carried  out  ibme  of  the  horfes,  and  loft 
ct  about  one-half  of  them.  Alfo  a  {loop  from  here, 
cc  arrived  there  with  only  four  horfes  alive;  and  a 
{C  brig  from  here  loft  about  one  half  of  the  cargo 
tc  of  horfes  which  me  carried  out,  the  reft  were 
"  all  iichly." 

The  next  paragraph  fhews  the  difference  of  be- 
haviour at  this  time,  between  the  French  and  Eng- 
liih  privateers.  A  French  cruizer  fell  in  with  the 
fchooner  Little  John,  fent  her  into  the  Havannah, 
and  detained  lier  five  days.  The  French  took  half 
a  puncheon  of  rum,  a  barrel  of  bread,  and  a  fpy- 
£l:i<3.  The  captain  gave  an  order  for  the  amount 
upon  his  agent  in  Philadelphia. 

NORFOLK,  APRIL  4. 

c  We  flop  the  prefs  to  mention  the  arrival  of 
"captain  "Wanton  Steer,  of  the  brig  Charlotte,  in 
cc  twenty-four  days  from  Port  Royal,  Martinique  ; 
fcc  from  him  we  have  obtained  the  following: 

"  That  th-e  (liip  Diana,  of  New- York,  David 
cc  Chadeayne,  m after,  on  his  paffage  from  the  Eaft- 
ci  Indies  to  New- York,  was  boarded  by  his  Britan- 
Ci  nic  majeily's  brig  Pelican,  captain  J.  C.  Searle, 
cc  who  fent  an  officer  and  crew  on  board  and  took 


UNITED    STATES. 

"  out  the  mate,  fix  people,  and  carried  her  into 
u  Port  Royal ;  where,  on  the  6th  of  March,  while 
"  in  their  pofTefiion,  fhe  caught  fire  and  ivas  burnt 
<c  to  the  'water's  edge,  ivith  all  her  cargo,  of  im- 
"  men/e  value  !" 

The  following  article  is  here  copied  from  a  Bo£- 
ton  ncwfpaper,  of  the  yth  of  April,  1796. 

MORE  BRITISH  AMITY. 

"  Captain  Elkanah  Mayo,  who  arrived  in  town  this  week 
u  from  New-York,  has  favoured  us  with  the  following  ac- 
"  count  of  the  cruel  treatment  he  and  his  men  received  from 
"  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Britifli  frigate  La  Pique,  at  Bar- 
"  badoes,  in  December  laft,  viz.  Captain  Mayo,  in  the  fhip 
"  Polly,  of  Cape  Ann,  homeward  bound,  from  a  whaling  voy- 
<c  age,  was  drove  in,  by  ftrefs  of  weather,  to  Barbadoes,  where 
u  he  lay  near  three  weeks  for  the  arrival  of  fome  Americans 
tc  tq  freight  his  oil  home ;  during  which  time,  the  Britifh  fri- 
u  gate  La  Pique  arrived  there  from  a  cruife,  and  in  two  days 
<c  after,  prefTed  two  of  his  hands.  Captain  Mayo  applied  to 
"  the  governor  for  protection,  who  caufed  the  men  to  be  re- 
"  leafed;  three  days  after,  captain  Mayo's  boat,  being  afhore, 
**  with  three  men -waiting  for  him,  the  frigate's  barge  hauled 
"  in  clofe  to  his  boat,  and  boarded  him  with  cutlafles  to  prefs 
c<  the  men  by  force.  The  men  called  on  captain  Mayo,  from 
<c  the  fhore,  who  run  to  the  boat  for  their  relief,  where  he  found 
"  the  crew  of  the  Britifh  frigate  with  the  tillar  of  their  barge 
"  beating  his  men  over  their  heads,  with  faid  tillar,  till  the  blood 
"  guflied  from  their  mouths  andnoies,  and  other  wife  mangling 
"  them  in  a  barbarous  and  fhocking  manner.  Captain  Mayo 
"  fprung  into  the  boat  and  cleared  it  of  the  Britifh  crew.  The 
"  commanding  officer,  who  was  then  on  the  wharf,  faid  he 
"  would  have  every  man  aboard  the  fhip.  Mr.  Woodruff, 
<c  with  whom  captain  Mayo  did  bufmefs,  being  on  the  wharf, 
"  offered  his  bonds  to  the  captain  of  ihe  frigate  that  he  would 
"  bring  his  protections  on  fhore.  Captain  Mayo  then  went 
<;  on  board  his  fhip  to  bring  his  protections.  While  !:e  was 
cc  on  board,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  frigate,  and  all  the 
<c  reft  of  the  officers,  got  into  their  barge,  waiting  for  captain 
cc  Mayo,  who  was  returning  with  all  his  protections ;  they 
<c  boarded  him;  the  commanding  officer  jumped  into  captain 
st  Mayo's  boat  with  his  drawn  cuttsfs',  and  dragged  by  force  all 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE 

u  bismenimtotrieir  barg-e,  and  thenlpf efented  hir,  cutlafs  to  capt. 

ft,  e.ud  OKVTCU  him  if  to  the  barge,  which  herefu- 
«  feel ;  ~fc.tr  which  he  pricked  hiro  fev-ral  times  in  the  bread,  and 
n  towed  him  on  tc^ri  the  frigate  ;  he  put  capt.  Mayo's  men 
t(  i'-,ro  the  hole  rn^ng  his  men  who  were  fick  with  the  y-JI'-w 
c;  fever  ;  Ix  tl^,;;  ordered  a  pair  of  irons  to  be  fixed  on  caj  in 
yo,  wHeh  w-'^e  not,  however,  fixed;  be  kept  him  on  the 
"•  quarter-declc  "iif:il  evening,  then  ordered  captain  Mayo's  boat 
u  tie  he  huukci  u> -., <.•  :J  ordered  him  onboard  alone.  Capt.  Mayo 
u  qudfi  d  him  to  let  him  have  a  man  to  go  with  bin..,  which 
ct  the  ci'pi.rii'1  cf  the  frigate  refufed  ;  then  faid  he  would  caft 
"  him  off,  and  let  him  go  adrift,  he  told  him  he  might  perifh 
"  at  fea,  to  which  he  replied  he  hoped  he  would.  Captain 
"  Mayo  told  him  he  would  not  go,  unlefs  he  caft  him  off,  he 
"then  look  his  barpe,  and  towed  captain  Mayo  on  board  his 
u  own  (hip  ;  the  next  morning  captain  Mayo  went  to  the  go- 
<c  vernor,  and  complained  of  the  officers  conduct;  the  gover- 
"  nor  oroered  his  men  to  he  immediately  releafed,  who  were 
u  accordingly  fent  on  fhore.  Four  days  after,  three  of  bis  men 
u  wre  taken  with  the  yellow  fever,  which  they  took  while  on 
"  brard  the  frigate,  and  which  fpread  through  captain  Mayo's 
"  ihip's  comp-my :  four  of  bis  men  died  of  the  fever,  the  reft 
"  were  obliged  to  leave  the  fliip,  and  he  hired  negroes  to  pump 
<<p  her.  Captain  Mayo  then  chartered  vefTels  as  he  could  find 
u  th.-^rr.  to  take  his  men  and  cargo  to  the  United  Stares.  This 
"  bafe  conduct  of  our  new-treaty-allies  occafioned  the  lofs  of 
"  ei ;.,;.:  thoufand  dollars  to  bis  owners. 
•  "  I,  the  fubicriber  do  teftify  to  the  above  account. 

ELKANAH  MAYO." 

\Vhi!e  the  Britifb  were  going  on  at  this  rate,  a 
letter,  dated  January  i?th,  was  received  in  Phila- 
delphia, from  Samuel  Bayard  agept  of  the  United 
States,  at  London,  on  the  buiinefs  of  reftitution. 
Mr.  B-jyard  writes  thus  : 

u  As  foon  as  minlftry  learn  the  line  of  conducl^ 
<c  which  the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives  mean  to  pur- 
cc  fuey  I  am  perfuaded  their  condnft,  as  it  regards 
u  us,  will  be  lefs  fluctuating.  Should  thehouie  co- 
u  incidcwith  the  Prefident  and  Senate,  every  thing 
"  here  v/ill  go  well:  fliouldobflacles,  on  the  other 


UNITED    STATES.  145- 

"  hand,  be  thrown  in  the  way  by  the  popular  branch 
•'  of  the  government,  I  doubt  whether  the  weflern 
a  polls  will  be  furrendered,  or  reflitution  made  of 
u  our  captured  property.  However,  I  truft  tliat 
"  every  man  who  lias  any  regard  to  the  honour , 
"  the/0/M,  or  inter  eft  of  his  country,  will  lee  the 
u  neceffity  of  carrying  the  treaty  fully  into  effeft, 
u  Ib  far  as  regards  the  United  States." 

The  fcope  of  the  letter  is,  that,  if  Congrefs  ap- 
propriated for  Mr.  Jay's  treaty,  compenfation  would 
be  made  for  the  piracies  in  the  "Weil-Indies.  If 
they  did  not,  the  prizes  would  be  kept.  This 
plainly  infers,  that  the  Britifh  were  acting  as  con- 
fummate  bucanneers.  For,  whether  the  treaty  paft 
or  not,  they  had  no  title  to  have  taken  thefe  ve£- 
fels.  But  thefuperior  talents  of  Mr.  Jay  had  happily 
interwoven  two  matters  totally  diftinft.  If  you 
iign  this  treaty  of  commerce,  you  (hall  get  compen- 
fation for  the  vefTels.  If  not,  we  fhall  have  them 
to  ourfelves.  Before  entering  upon  the  old  ftory 
of  debts  due  to  Britain  ;  of  the  weftern  pofts,  and 
of  matters  relative  to  the  laft  war  ;  before  plunging 
into  treaties  of  amity,  the  recent  feizure  of  the 
veiTels  Ihould  have  been  fully  and  feparately  fettled. 
If  that  could  be  done,  it  was  time  enough  to  get 
into  a  treaty.  If  it  could  not  be  done,  the  way 
for  z\merica  was  t6  have  flood  by  in  wait  for  con- 
tingencies, while  an  embargo  on  provifions  would 
have  laid  the  Britifti  Weft-Indies  proftrate  at  her 
feet.  Inftead  of  this  obvious  policy,  matters  the 
moll  diftincl  were  all  jumbled  together  ;  and  the 
bait  of  compenfation  made  America  fnap  at  the 
gilded  hook.*  Suppofe  that  one  of  her  neighbours 

*  In  juftice  to  Mr.  Jay,  it  muft  be  believed  that  his  conduct  was  af- 
feftcd  by  (bme  re&foas  not  yet  communicated  to  the  public.  The 

V 


146  HISTORY    OF    THE 

hath  broke  into  a  widow's  wheatfield,  nightly,  for 
months  together,  and  carried  off  or  deflroyed  her 
crops.  An  envoy  is  lent  to  demand  fatisf action. 
The  robber  anfwers  that  he  has  old  accounts  to 
fettle  with  the  landlady,  that  he  wants  a  wife,  and 
that,  if  fh<2  will  agree  to  a  fettlement,  and  at  the 
fame  time  let  him  have  her  hand,  he  will  enter 
into  one  fweeping  treaty  for  the  whole.  Any  fer- 
vant  girl  would  fee  the  abfurdity  of  this  jumbling 

application  of  the  following  anecdote  cannot  be  miftaken.  It  (hews 
the  frequent  appeals  that  Pitt  makes  to  Macedonian  logic. 

On  the  gth  of  February,  1794,  colonel  Whitlock  wrote  a  letter 
to  general  Lavaux,  who  commanded  at  Port-au-Paix,  in  St.  Do- 
mingo. He  required  Lavaux  to  deliver  up  the  town,  the  forts,  and 
/hipping.  He  then,  iia  the  name  of  the  Britifh  government,  adds 
thus:  l<  The  fum  of  FIVE  THOUSAND  CROWNS  TOURNOIS  mall 
"  be  paid  to  you  in  perfon,  or  depoiited  in  the  bank  of  England, 
<(  payable  to  your  order.'* 

In  his  anfwer,  Lavaux  fays,  t(  permit  me  now  to  complain  to 
"  yourfelf,  of  the  indignity  you  have  offered  me,  in  thinking  me  fo 
"  vile,  fo  flagitious,  fo  bafe,  as  not  to  refent,"  £c.  He  concludes 
with  fending  Whitlock  a  challenge  immediately  to  meet  and  fight 
him.  See  New  Annual  Regifterfor  1794,  Hiftory,  p.  338. 

Bgt  if  Port-au-Paix  was  worth  five  thoufand  crowns  to  England, 
Jay's  treaty  was  worth  fifty  millions.  The  Reprefentatives  were  in 
the  direct  way  to  the  deftruftion  of  the  Britifh  Weft-Indies.  A  fuf- 
penfion  of  commercial  intercourfe,  and  an  embargo,  would  have  re- 
duced both  England  and  thofe  colonies  to  the  utmoft  difficulty. 
Thefe  two  raeafures  would  have  broke  no  treaty,  nor  afforded  any 
pretence  for  a  quarrel,  and  they  would  have  humbled  England  too 
much  to  leave  her  any  appetite  for  the  wanton  declaration  of  hoftili- 
ties.  Ati  this  was  fo  evident,  the  track  purfued  by  the  Reprefenta- 
iives  was  marked  with  fuch  luminous  circumftances  of  invitation^, 
that  nothing  but  ignorance,,  corruption,  or  the  moft  abject  imbeci- 
lity of  undcrftanding,  could  miftake  it. 

Like  Sennacherib's  angel,  Camillus  interfered  to  fuggeft  an  ex« 
prefs  libel  on  Congrefs,  to  tatnim  the -character,  to  undermine  the 
intereft,  and  to  hamftring  the  vengeance  of  America.  With  a  mek 
fage  fo  welcome,  fo  necefrary,  to  the  very  being  of  the  court  of  Lon- 
<don>  Jay  rauft  have  been  a  favourite  gueil.  And,  after  the  facjifi- 
.cep  which  he  made,  if  he  did  not  pay  due  attention  to  the  future  in- 
-Bepencience  of  his  family,  he  is  a  greater  fimpleton  than  the  worM 
can foffibly  think  him  to  be* 


UNITED    STATES,  147 

Jaropofal.  She  would  reply,  that  intermarriage 
might  come  time  enough,  when  former  complaints 
were  cleared  up.  But  the  objedt  of  Mr.  Hamilton 
and  his  friends  was,  right  or  wrong,  to  have  a 
Britifh  treaty  ;  and  the  prefent  one  could  not  have 
been  got  through,  but  for  entwifting  it  with  the 

of  compenfation. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  1796,  a  Philadelphia  print 
contained  the  following  extraft  of  a  letter  from. 
London,  dated  February  2d> 

"  I  this  moment  came  from  the  court  of  admi- 

c  ralty,  where  the  firft  cafe  of  the  captures  at  Mar- 

c  tinique,  by  Grey  and  Jervis,  was  tried  this  mor- 

"  ning:  it  was  reverfed,  which  will  be  a  precedent 

"  for   all  the  others,  and  a  point  gained  for  all  of 

"  us  that  have  cafes  in  the  courts  here.     And  now 

"  they  fay,  on  Saturday  next,  the  lords  will  fit, 

te  and  will  go  on  to  try  the  legality  of  the  condem-r 

u  nations  in  the  Weft-Indies. ?r 

As  to  the  point  gained  for  all  of  us,  there  Is  yet 
very  little?  progrefs  made*,  nor  is  it  of  much  concern 
to  the  claimants  whether  there  is.  or  not.  The 
above,  .and  Mr.  Bayard's  letter,  are  quoted  chiefly 
i>ecaufe  they  contain,  not  even  one  (ingle,  folitary, 
word,  about  the  relief  of  the  failors,.  who  had  been, 
torn  from  their  families,  and  their  country,  ftar- 
vecl,  hand-cuffed,,  and  flogged,  to  make  them  en- 
rol in  the  Britifh  ferviee  of  afTaflination.  If  this 
book  falls  into  the  hands  of  any  of  that  clafs  of  peo- 
ple, they  are  entreated  to  refieft  for  what  fort  of 
owners,  and  what  fort  of  a  country,  they  are  bra- 
ving the  hardfhips  of  a  mariner's  life.  We  have 
feen  how  tranquilly  Camillus  gets  over  their  enor- 
mous wrongs.  Yet,  when  a  Britifh  creditor  in  the 
American  funds  was  concerned,  he  could  {peak 
about  them  like  a  man  who  was  in  earned.  "  No 
u  powers  of  language/'  fays  he>  ^  at  my 


!48  HISTORY    OF    THE 

"  can  exprefs  the  abhorrence  I  feel  at  the  idea  of 
cc  violating  the  property  of  individuals,  which,  in 
u  an  authorized  intercourfe,  in  time  of  peace,  has 
"  been  confided  to  the  faith  of  our  government.— 
ct  I;.i  my  view,  every  moral,  and  every  political 
(;<  ftritirifent,  unite  to  confign  it  to  execration."* 
Compare  this  glowing  ftyle  with  the  frigid  accents 
in  which  he  obferves,  that  it  was  irnpoflible  to  help 
the  imprefFment  of  American  feamen.  They  fhpuld 
be  at  lead  as  near  our  hearts,  as  the  mere  pecuni- 
ary intereft  of  an  Englifii  creditor  in  the  American 
funds.  This  will  be  granted  by  every  friend  to 
the  country  ;  and,  on  this  principle,  every  moral  and 
political  Jtntiment  will  ccnfign  to  execration,  Jay 
and  his  treaty,  wherein  the  iafety  of  our  mariners 
has  been  totally  neglected.  As  for  the  twenty 
treaty-making  fenators,  they  are  neither  worfe  nor 
better  than  the  numerous  bodies  of  our  citizens, 
who  thanked  the  Preftdent  for  figning  this  monu- 
ment of  American  apathy — an  initrument  by  which 
thoufands  and  ten  thouiands  of  fearn.cn  were  con-'. 
fjgned  to  Britifh  mercy.  There  is  no  defertion  of 
fellow-countrymen  fo  thoroughly  difgraceful  in  the 
annals  of  any  independent  people  under  heaven  + 
A  century  of  heroifm  could  hardly  wipe  out  the 
flain.  Fifty-five  American  fliips  are  captured  by  a 
fingle  Britifh  corfair,t  more  than  a  twelvemonth 
after  a  treaty  of  amity  had  been  flgned,  and  above 
fix  months  after  it  had  been  fully  ratified.  With1 
fuch  intelligence  flaring  in  their  faces,  while  every 
newfpaper,  for  eighteen  months  preceding,  had 
been  fuffocated  with  fimilar  information,  "  the 
'  FREEST  and  moft  enlightened  nation  in  the 
cc  world, "  compelled  their  reprefentatives,  jut- 
fear  of  a  Briti/k  ivar  !  to  appropriate  for  the  treaty, 

*  Camiliiis,  No.  28'.          *f.  7^he  Argonaut.    See  above. 


cc 


UNITED    STATES.  149 

As  Mr.  Hamilton  has  betrayed  fo  much  concern 
for  Britifh  creditors,  it  may  be  afked  why  he  does 
not  feel  equal  intereit  in  the  ftate  of  Maryland  ? 
Before  the  war  that  province  had  veiled  confidei-a- 
ble  fums  of  money  in  the  bank  of  England.  On 
the  lyth  of  December,  1795,  a  ^e(^  committee  re- 
ported to  the  legiflature  of  that  ftate,  that  "they 
havenoinformatidfcas  to  the  probability  of  their 
recovering  the  flocks  in  the  bank  of  England,  to 
which  they  claim  a  title."  When  Jay  took  fo 
much  care  for  the  fafety  of  Britifh  creditors  in 
American  funds,  he  might  likewife  have  paid  fome 
attention  to  the  intereit  of  Maryland  in  the  Britifli 
funds. 

The  tenth  article  of  the  treaty  contains  a  plain 
commentary  on  this  ftoppage  of  Maryland  property. 
It  f.ys  that  "  neither  the  debts  due  from  individu- 
cc  ais  of  the  one  nation  to  individuals  of  the  other, 
tc  nor  (hares  nor  monies  which  they  may  have  in  the 
<fc  public  funds,  or  in  the  public  or  private  banks, 
u  ihall  ever,  in  any  event  of  war  or  national  differ- 
cc  cnce,  befequeftered  or  conilfcated,  it  beiwg  unjujl 
"  and impolitic  "  &c.  Why  then  didEngland  fequei- 
trate,  or  with  what  pretence  of  decency  does  (lie 
continue  to  keep  the  funds  of  Maryland  ?  When 
the  Senate  and  Executive  figned  the  treaty,  they 
might  flirely  have  thought  of  this  important 
omiflion.  But  this  article  has  even  a  worfe  fault 
The  words  unjufl  and  impolitic  contain  a  direcl  libel 
on  Mr.  Dayton,  and  that  party  in  thelioufe  of  Re- 
prefentatives,  who,  in  March,  1794,  had  propofed 
to  fequeilrate  Britifh  debts,  as  a  fccurity  for  Ame- 
rican compenfation.  The  Senate  and  President  ra- 
tified this  infult  on  the  Reprefentatives,  though,  as 
being  a  foletnn  act  of  government,  it  contained  an 
attack  on  the  American  legillature,  a  million  of 
times  more  flagrant  than  the  tranfltory  fouib  of 


ifo  HISTORY  OF   THE 

Barras.  Yet  the  latter  is  to  be  made  the  handle 
fora  French  war,  while  the  former,  becaujeit  came 
from  Britain,  was  pocketed  in  filence.  If  an  Englifh 
minifter  had  fubfcribed  a  treaty  conveying  fuch  a  di^ 
reel:  reference  to,  and  fuch  an  abrupt  cenfure  of  any 
previous  motion  in  parliament,  the  parties  aggriev- 
ed would  have  taken  the  matter  up*  But  indeed 
no  Englifh  minifter  dared  to  ^jpve  made  fuch  a  cli- 
grellion.  In  difcuffing  the  treaty,  none  of  the  Re- 
prefentatives  adverted  to  this  tacit  reproach.  The 
pulfe  of  national  dignity  feems  to  beat  higher  in 
England  than  in  the  United  States. 

Camillas  clamours  loudly  about  the  iniquity  of 
America  in  neglecting  the  payment  of  debts  due 
to  Britain,  before  the  lafl  war.  What  here  follows, 
on  that  head,  v/as  related  to  the  author,  in  January 
1796,  by  Mr.  James  Madifon. 

Much  noife  has  been  made  about  the  juftice  of 
America,  in  neglectingthe  payment  of  debts  due  to 
Britain  before  the  lad  war.  In  Virginia,  it  was 
formerly  ufual  for  the  planters,  in  that  country,  to 
confign  their  cargoes  of  tobacco  to  a  correfpondent 
in  Britain,  who  v/as  veiled  with  a  difcretionary 
power  of  felling  them  as  high  as  poilible.  It  was 
often  obferved,  that  when  two  planters  had  each  of 
them,  at  the  fame  time,  fent  cargoes  of  tobacco  of 
equally  good  quality  to  England,  the  one  received 
perhaps  twenty  pounds  the  hogfhead,  and  his  neigh- 
bour not  more  than  four  pounds.  There  was  no 
regularity  or  equality  in  the  prices,  and  this  gave 
rife  to  complaints  and  fufpicions. 

Sometime  ago,  a  gentleman,  in  Virginia,  brought 
a  counter-action  againft  his  Britim  creditor,  in  one 
of  the  courts  of  that  ilate.  His  plea  was,  that  the 
creditor  and  confignee  had  actually  fold  his  tobac- 
co in  Europe  at  a  much  higher  price  than  he  had/la- 
ted  in  balancing  their  accounts.  The  facts  alledgecf 


UNITED    STATES.  15* 

were  clqarly  proved,  and  the  jury  gave  a  verdict 
for  damages  to  the  amount  of 'thirty  thoiifand  dollars. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Federal  plan  for  a  French  Ifar. — Specimen  of  French 
juftice. — The  Sea  Horfe. — The  Mujquito. — Re- 
marks on  the  Britijh  treaty  by  Mr.  Gall  at  in. — Re- 
ply by  Mr.  Tracy. — Hints  on  the  ffeftern  infur- 
redion. — Caje  of  the  brig  Maria,  captain  HSil- 
mans . — The  fchooner  William,  captain  Scott. — 
Defpotic  influence  of  the  tones  in  American  Jea- 
ports . — Elegant  ftyle  injbme  of  their  publications. 
— The  Polly,  captain  H^ade. — 'The  Edward  and 
William,  captain  Jones. — The  Ariel.— The  brig 
Sifters. — Capture  of  the  brig  Jay,  by  the  French, 
andbarbarous  treatment  of  the  captain.-^- Mr.  JAY'S 
INSTRUCTIONS. — 'Extracts  from  them  NEVER  BE- 
FORE PUBLISHED. Proofs  of  his  NEGLECT  OF  OR- 
DERS.— Anecdotes  relative  to  the  Britijh  treaty. 

THIS  chapter  begins  with  a  few  inftances  of  the 
maritime  conduct  of  France  and  England,  that 
occurred  about,  or  previous  to,  the  commencement 
of  the  year  1796.  They  had  been  omitted  for  the 
fake  of  brevity.  But  while  this  work  is  printing 
off,  Prefident  Adams,  and  a  formidable  phalanx  in 
the  fifth  Congrefs,  are  driving  the  federal  chariot, 
at  full  fpeed,  to  the  brink  of  a  French  war.  One 
great  pretence  for  this  meafure  is  the  republican 
robberies  on  our  (hipping  in  the  Weft-Indies.  But 
if  it  can  be  proved  that  our  commerce  endured 
greater  injury,  in  1796,  from  England,  than  it  hath 
fince  done  from  France,  and  that  the  government 


152  HISTORY    OF   THE- 

of  laft  year  took  very  fmall  concern  about  the  out- 
rages of  the  former,  while  it  has  conflantly  exag- 
gerated thofe  of  the  latter,  the  reader  will  gradu- 
>  ally  be  convinced  of"  a  confpiracy  perpetually  ex- 
i4  ifling*"  to  embroil  this  country  writh  France,  and 
to  entangle  her  in  an  alliance  with  the  guinea-note 
monarchy  of  Britaint. 

A  letter  from  Port-an-Paix,  dated  the  i8th  of 
December,  1795,  to  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia, 
Has  the  following  particulars,  Anthoine  Chaplin, 
captain  of  the  Guillotine,  a  French  privateer,  had 
maltreated  captain  JVl'Keeyer  of  the  American  fhip 
fames.  For  that  and  a  ilmilar  offence  againft  the 
iliip  Molleville,  of  St.  Thomas,  Chaplin  was  fined 
:n  two  hundred  dollars,  and  all  damages  that  might 
accrue  from  the  illegal  capture  of  thele  veflels. 
His  privateer  was  confifcated  ;  and  the  pirate  him- 
felf  was  condemned  to  fifteen  months  of  imprifon- 
ment  in  irons.  u  I  this  day  fa.w  him,"  fays  the  let- 
ter-writer, "  chained  with  a  negro  working  in  the 
cc  ftreet,  in  the  fame  kind  of  drefs  in  which  he  fbr- 
ct  ced  captain  M'Keever  to  leave  the  privateer  and 
cc  go  on  board  an  American  veiFel.  So  much  for 
"  ourLaveaux's  juftice." 

Anthoine  Chaplin  was  lefs  culpablethan  Reynolds, 
and  other  Englifh  kidnappers.  His  punifhment 
was  immediate  and  complete  ;  but  we  have  never 

*  Supra  Chap.  IT. 

•f  Private  letters  from  north  Britain  give  curious  details  about  the 
decline  of  paper  money.  Take  a  guinea-note  to  the  butcher,  and 
you  mud  either  la}f  out  the  whole  with  him,  or  go  without  your 
change.  He  parts  with  no  filver.  The  only  place  where  hard  mo- 
ney has  a  chance  t,o  be  had  is  at  the  ale  houfe,  where,  after  you  fpend 
half  a  crown,  the  landlord  fomctimes  gives  twenty  ffiillings  in  caih 
for  your  guinea-note.  Thefe  traits  come  exactly  to  the  point.  They 
portend  the  future  peace  of  Europe.  A  gentleman  who  left  Dublin 
cti  the  2d  of  March,  fays,  that  Corke guinea-bank-notes  were  then 
a i  eighteen  {hillings  hard  money.  Other  bank  paper  had  alfo  fallen. 


UNITED    STATES.  153 

heard  a  Tingle  inftance  of  a  Bririi1  offender  mete- 
ing  with  fuch  a  check.  At  the  time  here  fpokx  of, 
the  American  executive  had  figned  Jay's  tree  ty,  to 
the  extreme  joy  of  England,  and  the  utmoft  provo- 
cation of  France.  Yet  the  former  coii-Jnued  to  rob 
America,  and  the  latter  did  not*.  For  what  region 
was  Laveaux  able  to  execute  juflice,  while  adrr..,  I 
Murray  could  only  prom  lie  to  ufe  his  influence? 
Thus  Pichegru  might  have  protniied  to  ufe  his  in- 
fluence with  one  of  his  own  corporals.  The  fa<5t 
feems  to  have  been  this.  The  Directory  ftill  vala- 
ed  federal  fricndfhip  as  fomething  ;  while  Pitt  held 
it  as  nothing. 

On  the  4th  of  January  vthe  fchooner  Hiram,  cap- 
tain Brooks,  arrived  at  Hartford  in  Connecticut. 
He  related,  that  the  Sea  Horfe,  captain  Smith,  f>cm 
Guadaloupe  for  Bofton,  had  all  her  crew,  exceptir.g 
the  matter  and  firft  mate,  taken  out  by  an  Engliih 
mip.  She  was  fent  to  Antigua,  and  releafed,  but  her 
crew  were  detained  on  board  of  the  (hip  that  took 
them. 

A  more  complete  account  of  the  {offerings  of 
captain  Smith  and  his  people,  was  given  by  hhn- 
felf,  dated  Baltimore,  January  ^th,  1796-  On. the 

*  The  moft  folid  argument  then  urged  againft  the  French  .in  the 
Weft-Indies  was,  that  they  had  takeu  many  American  cargoes  upon, 
credit,  and  either  paid  an  inferior  price,  or  exacted  a  delay  that  be- 
came equivalent  to  no  payment  at  art.  But  we  Have  never  been  told 
of  their  flogging  American  feamen,  to  make  them  enter  into  the 
republican  fervice.  The  convulfive  ftate  of  the  French  Weil-Indies 
was  well  known.  Anarchy  conflagration,  and  maflacre.  ftrode  fuc- 
ceffively  from  one  iiland  to  another.  If  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia^ 
chofe  to  fend  his  cargo  to  fuch  a  market,  he  could  expeft  no  better 
reception,  nor  did  he,  in  all  cafes,  merit  much  fyrnpathy.  Thefe 
fpeculators  raifed  the  price  of  flour  from  feven  dollars  per  barrel,  to 
fifteen,  to  the  utter  oppreflion  of  the  labouring  poor  in  this  and  other 
feaport  towns.  In  Britain,  neither  the  laws,  nor  even  the  people 
would  have  endured  fwch  foreftalling, 

a 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

1 3th  of  November,  preceding,  he  was  taken  by  the 
frigate  Refource,  captain  Watkins.  Five  of  his 
men,  two  of  whom  had  the  fever,  were  impreffed. 
A  prize-m  after  and  four  men  were  put  on  board  of 
the  Sea-Horfe.  They  confined  captain  Smith  for 
three  days  below,  under  the  guard  of  two  men 
with  drawn  cutlaffes,  and  loaded  piftols.  While 
captain  Smith  was  oh  board  of  the  Refource,  he 
was  ill  treated  by  a  midfhipmari  ;  and  told  him  that 
he  would  not  be  infulted  by  a  boy.  Captain  Wat- 
kins  faid,  that,  if  he  had  heard  the  expreflion,  he 
would  have  tied  up  and  flogged  Smith  for  daring 
to  infult  his  majefty's  officer.  To  the  feelings  of 
an  enlightened  federaUJl,  this  language  may  be 
acceptable.  Watkins  offered  him  two  hundred 
pounds,  and  a  fliare  of  the  prize-money,  to  fay  that 
the  fhip  was  French  property.  At  Antigua,  the  firfl 
mate  of  the  Sea  Horie  died,  and  the  prefident  cau- 
fed  his  body  to  be  thrown  into  the  fea.  He  alfo  fent 
a  pilot  and  negroes  on  board  to  carry  the  vefTel  out 
to  fea.  Captain  Smith  offered  to  knock  them  down. 
The  prefident  fent  for  him,  and  threatened  to  caufe 
the  fort  to  fire  into  the  vefTel,  if  me  did  not  go 
out  to  fea,  either  with  men  or  without  them.  On 
Smith's  refufal,  the  prefident  faid  that  he  would 
have  him  confined.  What  a  fplendid  blaze  of  Bri- 
tifti  honour  and  hofpitality  !  And  how  fondly  would 
Noah  Webfter  have  chuckled  over  it,  if  the  fcene 
had  only  paft  in  a  French  port  inftead  of  an  Eng- 
lifh  one !  Watkins  had  brought  three  other  Ameri- 
can prizes  into  Antigua.  He  cut  them  out  of  a  port 
inGuadaloupe  ;  and,  their  regiflers  being  in  the  of- 
fice on  fhore,  heboaftedof  them  as  afureprey.They 
were,  notwithflanding,  difcharged.  How  captain 
Smith  got  hands  to  work  his  vefTel  to  Baltimore 
does  not  appear.  Two  leagues  from  Cape  Henry, 
he  was  boarded  by  admiral  Murray,  who,  as  if  the 


UNITED  STATES.  , 
poor  man  had  not  already  fuffered  enough,  took 
from  him  Wilkinfon  Gilt,  a  mate  whom  he' had 
fhipped  at  Antigua.  Somebody  called  citizen 
Hughes,  Is  fmcerely  thanked  for  fupplying  him  with 
part  of  a  crew.  But  whether  this  was  Viclor  Hughes, 
or  where  the  help  was  given,  we  are  left  in  the 
dark. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1796,  the  brig  Experi- 
ence, captain  Houfton,  arrive'd  from  Port-au-Prince 
at  Philadelphia.  He  informed,  that  three  Britifli 
(hips  of  war,  at  the  former  place,  prefled  every 
American  who  'could  not  produce  a  protection. 
They  were  chiefly  manned  with  American  fearnen. 
A  number  of  our  veiTels,  lying  at  Port-au-Princer 
were  in  a  mod  diftrefTed  fituation  for  want  of  hands. 

A  letter  from  St.  Kitts,  dated  4th  January,  1796, 
and  received  by  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  fays, 
that  the  brig  Fame,  captain  Medlin,  of  this  port? 
was  about  to  fail  for  it.  The  letter  adds,  that  ilie 
had  been  plundered  by  a  French  privateer,  but 
gives  no  particulars. 

On  the7  1 7th  of  January,  the  Mufquito,  captain 
Harfha^,  arrived  at  Baltimore  from  Bourdeaux. 
On  the7-  voyage,  he  was  met  by  the  HuiTar,  a  Britifti 
frigate.  His  keys  were  taken,  his  chefls  broke  upj 
and  every  thing  flolen  that  the  Britifli  could  lay 
their  hands  on.  They  alfo  drank  a  cafe  of  his  wine, 
and  prefTed  the  Mufquito's  mate,  and  one  of  the 
hands,  who  was  an  American. 

Thus  far  we  have  inftances  of  Britifh  piracy,  for- 
merly overlooked  or  omitted,  as  obferved  in  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter.  The  reader  muft  have 
become  tired  with  this  uniform  and  difgufting  taJe 
of  our  commercial  degradation.  As  a  relief  to  the 
melancholy  picture}  let  us  turn,  for  a  moment,  to 
the  debates  on  the  Britifli  treaty.  The  enthufiafm 
of  attachment  which  it  infpired,  forms  one  of  the 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

moil  {jrigub.r  phenomena  in  the  hiftory  of  the  hn- 
man'miTid.  Many  cf  its  fanguine  advocates  were 
men  unfufpecled  of  a  finifter  defign. 

On  the  26th  of  April,    1796,   Mr.  Gallatin,    in 
fpeaking  of  the  Britifli  treaty,  had  thefe  words  : 

*•'   i  he  fact  was  uncontroverted,  that  the  Britifh 
<c  ftill  continued  to  imprefs  our  feamen  and  to  cap- 
"  tare   our  veffels.     If  they  pretended  to  jufHfy 
ct  that  conduct  by  the  treaty,  it  became  necefTary 
c  to  obtain  an  explanation  of  the  doubtful  articles  ; 
ct  if  there  was  nothing  in  the  treaty  to  juftify  it, 
their  a<rrs  were  acls  of  hoftility  ;  were  an  infrac- 
ct  tion  of  that  treaty  ;  and   even,  according  to  the 
u  doctrine  of  thofe  gentlemen   who  thought  that, 
cc  in  common   cafes,  the  houfe  had  no  discretion, 
<•  the  treaty  once  broken  by  one  party,  was  no  lon- 
c  ger  binding  on  the  other  ;  and  it  was  the  right 
"  as  well  as  the  duty  of  this  houfe,  not  to  proceed 
c  to  pafs  the  laws  necefTary  to  carry  it  into  effect, 
c  until  fatisfactory  affurances  were  obtained,  that 
'  thefe  afe  fhould  ceafe,    and   until  Great  Britain 
<c  had  evinced  a  friendly  clifpofition  towards  us*." 
It   was  impoflible  to    conceive  a  plainer,    or  a 
more  fubftantial  argument.     Thefe  few  lines  con- 
tain jail  enough  to  have  convinced  an  audience  of 
acceffible  underflandings,  of  the  propriety  of  fu£- 
pending  proceedings  toward  fulfilling  the  Britifh 
treaty,  till  an   efFeel-ual  check  had  been  given  to 
Britifh  piracy.     On  the  2/th  of  April,  Mr.  Tracy 
rofe  in  anfwer  to  Mr.  Gallatin..  Two  paffages  fhall 
be  here  given  from  his  fpeech.     The  firft  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

u  It  had  been  acknowledged,  by  Mr.  Gallatin, 
:c  that  a  new  negociation,  at  prefent,  cannot  be  ex- 
u  pe£led.  Great  Britain  pofTefTes  the  pofts,  the 

*  Bsche's  Debates,  vol.ii.  p.  266. 


UNITED    STATES.  157 

"  confidence  of  the  Indians,  the  many  millions  of 
4C  dollars  defpoiled  from  our  commerce,  the  bene- 
"  fits  of  our  trade,  and  proceeds  to  make  more  in- 
"  vafions  on  our  property  and  our  rights,  and  yet 
<c  the  gentleman  Jays  ive  will  not  go  to  ivar  !  What 
tc  would  be  the  American  conduct  under  fuchaftate 
<c  of  things  ?  Would  they  tamely  fee  their  govern- 
cc  ment  ftrut,  attempt  to  look  big,  call  hard  names; 
"  and  the  moment  they  were  faced,  like  an  over- 
"  grown  lubberly  boy,  (brink  into  a  corner  ?  Isthis7 
ic  heafked,the  American  character  ?He  thought him- 
"  felf  acquainted  with  a  part  of  the  United  States, 
tc  too  well,  to  believe  they  merited  fuch  a  cha- 
ic  racier;  the  people  where  he  was  mod  acquain- 
"  ted,  whatever  might  be  the  character  in  other 
u  parts  of  the  union,  were  not  of  the  ft  amp  to 
cc  cry  Hofannah  to  day,  and  crucify  to-morrow; 
"  they  will  not  dance  round  a  whilky  pole  one  day, 
<c  and  curfe  their  government,  and,  upon  hearing 
cc  of  a  military  force,  fneak  into  a  fwamp.:  No,  faid 
u  Mr.  Tracy,  my  immediate  conftituents,  whom  I 
"  very  well  know,  un-deriland  their  rights,  and  will 
"  defend  them,  and  if  they  find  that  the  govern- 
"  ment  either  cannot,  or  will  not  protect  them, 
"  they  will  at  leaft  attempt  to  protect  themfelves. 
a  And  he  could  not  feel  thankful  to  Mr.  Gal-latin 
cc  for  coming  all  the  way  from  Geneva,  to  give  Ame- 
cc  ricans  a  character  of  pufillanimity*."' 

This  rhapfody  makes  up  with  ill-nature  what  it 
wants  in.  meaning.  From  the  firft  part  of  it,  where 
the  gentleman  .{peaks'  of  the  injuries  committed  on 
this  country  by  England,  one  would  fnppofe,  that 
he  was  going  to  recommend  an  immediate  exertion 
of  American  vengeance.  But,  fq  far  from  that,  he 
only  recommended  that  we  fliould  kifs  the  Britifh 

*  Bache's  Debates,  vol.  ii.  p.  295.. 


158  HISTORY    OF  THE 

rod  by  inftantly  appropriating  for  Jay's  treaty. 
The  bluftering  found  of  his  words:  arid  the  abjeft 
prodration  of  his  ideas  form  a  flriking  contraft. 
His  comparifon  between  Connecticut  and  the  wefl- 
crn  counties  of  Pennfylvania  is  a  mailer-piece  of 
vulgar  calumny r  That  the  people  of  the  former 
flate  are  as  brave  as  any  in  tV  -as  never  been 

denied  ;  and  the  convention  01"  oaratoga  will,  for 
ages  to  come,  be  remembered  and  cited  as  a  m« 
mcnt  of  their  courage.     But  this  ou^lit  ,  be 

converted  into  a  handle  for  reproach,  ina  H  ael  :efs 
for  flander,  againft  other  dates.  As  to  he  \\t  ;.c  r>. 
Infurreclion,  it  is  time  that  we  fhould  begr.  to 
.{peak  truth  about  it.  The  way  in  which  that  af- 
fair was  fupprelTed  did,  ip  itfelf,  ciifcredit  trte  go- 
vernment of  the  country.  The  late  king  of  Pru£- 
fia  would  not  have  thought  all  the  military  con  duel: 
diiplayed  about  k,  worth  an  enfign's  comniiflion. 
Here  are  a  few  fpecimens  of  the  federal  army. 
"  OnThurfdaythe  igthof  November,  there  were 

4  about  forty  perfbns  brought  to  Parkifon?s  houfe, 
f  c  by  order  of  general  "White  ;  he  directed  to  put  the 

4  damned  rafcals  m  the  cellar,  to  tie  them  back  to 
£C  bacjc,  to  make  a  fire  for  the  guard,  bat  to  put  the 

•  prisoners  back  to  the  father  end  of  the  cellar, 
"  and  to  give  them  neither  victuals  nor  drink. 

1  The  cellar  was  wet  and  muddy,  and  the  night 
ic  cold;  the  cellar  extended  the  whole  length,  un- 
u  der  a  log-houfe,  which  was  neither  floored,  nor 

c  the  openings  between  the   logs  daubed.    They 

c  were  kept  there  until  Saturday  morning,  and  then 
&c  marched  to  the  town  of  Wafhington.  On  the 
tc  march,  one  of  the  priforicrs,  who  was  fubjectto 
tc  convulfions,  fell  into  a  fit :  but  when  fbme  of 
<c  the  troop  told  general  White  of  his  fituation,  he 
4C  ordered  them  to  tie  the  damned  rafcal  to  a  horfe's 
u  tailrand  drag  him  alorrg  with  them,  for  he  had  only 


UNITED  STATES.  159 

c<  feigned  having  the  fits.  Some  of  his  fellow  pri- 
u  foners,  however,  who  had  a  horfe,  difmounted,, 
u  and  let  the  poor  man  ride:  he  had  another  fit 
ic  before  he  reached  Wafliington..  This  march  was 
<c  about  twelve  miles.  The  poor  man,  who  had  the 
u  fits,  had  been  in  the  American  fervice,  during 
*c  almoft  the  whole  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain." 

General  White  has  not  denied  this  accufation, 
nor  profecuted  the  hiftorian  who  records  it.  Hence 
we  mull  admit  the  ftatement  to  be  true  ;  and  New 
Jerfeymay  congratulate  herfelf  on  the  acquisition 
or  production  of  a  fecond  DUKE  OF  CUMBERLAND. 
Mr.  Findley  gives  fome  farther  traits  of  this  fede- 
ral hero.  tc  Stockdale  was  forbid,  on  the  peril  of 
"  of  his  life,  to  adminifter  any  comfort  to  his  neigh- 
"  bours,  though  they  were  perifhing  with  cold,  and 
"  famifhing  with  hunger.  The  general  treated  the 
4*  prifoners,  as  they  arrived,  with  the  moft  infulting 
"  and  abufive language,  caufing  them  all  to  be  tied 
"  back  to  back,  except  one  man,  who  held  a  re- 
<f  fpeclable  rank,  and  who,  however,  was  laid  to  be 
"  one  of  the  mofl:  guilty  in  his  cuilody.  One  of  the 

nearefl  neighbours,  who  had  a  child  at  the  point 
"  of  dying,  and  obferving  that  they  were  bringing 
"  in  the  whole  neighbourhood  prifoners,  without 
"  regard  to  guilt  or  innocence,  went  and  gave  him- 
"  felf  up  to  general  White,  expect  ing  that,  as  he  was 
"  confcious  there  was  no  charge  againft  him,  he 
"  would  be  permittetlto  return  to  his  family  on  gi- 
"  ving  bail,  but  he  alfo  was  inhumanly  thrown 
41  into  the  cellar,  tied  with  the  reft,  and  re- 
"  fufed  the  privilege  of  feeing  his  dying  child ;  nor 
!t  was  he  permitted  to  attend  its  funeral,  until  after 
"  many  entreaties  he  obtained  that  liberty,  accom- 
"  panied  with  the  moft  horrid  oaths  and  impre- 
"  cations."  Of  the  fmajl  honour  acquired  in 


160  HISTORY   OF   THE 

this  expedition,  a  great  part  falls  to  the  iliare  of 
captain  John  Dunlap,  of  this  city.  u  Captain 
*'  Dunlap  and  his  party,  while  they  behaved  with 
"  the  greateft  dexterity  in  taking  the  prifoners,  trea- 
"  ted  them  with  as  much  politenefs  and  attention  as 
"  their  fituation  would  admit  of,  and  engaged  their 
"  gratitude  by  accompanying  unavoidable  fe verity 
'*  with  humanity*."  At  Carlifle,  apart  of  our  ar- 
my, after  a  hearty  dinner,  were  on  the  point  of  fet- 
ting  fire  to  the  town,  and  of  charging  each  other 
with  the  bayonet.  Mr.  Tracy  is  left  to  judge 
whether  fuch  con  duel:  was  not  as  bad  as  that  of 
dancing  round  a  whifky  pole.  But  when  the  member 
attempts  to  fligmatizethe  whole  conflituents  of  Mr. 
Gallatin,  as  rebels  and  poltroons,  it  is  hard  co  find, 
wkhin  the  compafs  of  decency,  a  term  fuitable  to 
his  behaviour. 

My.  Tracy  farther  complained  of  Mr.  Gallatin 

for  having  faid  that  "  the  negociation  with  Great 

'  Britain  was  begun  infear^   carried    on  through 

"*•  fear^  and  the  treaty  made  by   the  fame  motive; 

cc  when  it  arrived  in  this  country  the  Senate  fane- 

"  tioned  it,  and  the  Prefident  placed  his  fignature 

cc  to  it  from  fear  ;  and  now  there  was  an  attempt 

u  to  obtain  the  fanclion  of  the  Houfe  of  Reprefen- 

<c  tatives  from  fear.    All  theie  expreflions,  in  an  un- 

c  qualified   manner,  the  gentleman  had  applied  to 

c  this  country,  in  its  moft  important  tranfaclions, 

c  by  its  moft  important   characters,  and  to  crown 

c  all,  we  were  to  defeat  the  treaty,   2nd  fit  down 

"  quietly    under   injuries  the  moft   irritating,  and 

"  not   attempt  a  redrefs,  or  to   do    any  thing  like 

<c  going  to  war.     Under  impreffions  made  by  fuch 

c  declarations,  he   had  faid  what  he  had,  and  he 

tc  now  faid,  he  wimed  to  look  in  the  face  of  Mr. 

*  Findley's  Hiftory  of  the  Infurre&ion,  p.  202. 


UNITED    STATES.  161 

"  Gallatin,  or  Mr.  Heifter,  or  any  other,  who  da- 
<c  red  lay,  the  American  character  was  th?t  of  cow- 
a  ardice.  He  would  fay  again  and  again,  't  was 
"  raadnefs,  or  \vorfe,  to,fuppofe  we  could  "deieat 
"  this  treaty  and  avoid  a  war." 

"What  Mr.  Gallatin  fays  about  fear  is  perfectly 
true.  Mr.  Tracy  always  takes  it  for  granted,  that 
America  had  no  medium  between  the  acceptance  of 
Mr.  Jay's  treaty  and  a  Btitifh  war.  An  embargo  for 
four  months  would  have  reduced  the  mother  coun- 
try to  our  terms,  without  occafion  for  the  firing  of 
a  pillol., 

Mr.  Tracy -next  denies  the  reality  of  Britifh  im- 
preflrnents.  "  He  took  this  opportunity  to  afk  for 
"  the  proofs  of  juch  transactions,  as  imprefling  our 
"feamen,  by  the  Britifh  government.  He  decla- 
f!  red  he  knew  of  none  ;  and  had  never  heard  one 
"  imtance  of  the  Britifh  government  either  avowing 
4'  the  right,  or  praclifing  upon  it,  of  impreffment  of 
"  an  American  into  their  fea  fervice  ;  many  inftan- 
"  ces  had  occurred  of  complaints  to  the  govern- 
"  ment,  and  all  were  immediately  redrefFed  ;  and, 
**  although  it  was  become  very  fafhionable  to 
"  calumniate  the  Britifh  government,  he  was 
"  impelled,  from  his  own  belief  and  conviction 
"  on  the  fubje^,  to  fay,  that  no  fuch  inftance 
"  had  ever  taken  place  or  would  ever,  of  the  Bri- 
"  tifh  government,  juftifying  the  imprefTment  of 
"  natives  of  the  United  States,  or  one  who  was  an 
"  acknowledged  citizen.  Is  it  not  unfair,  faid  Mr. 
"  Tracy,  to  attribute  to  the  government  unautho- 
"  rized  mifconducl:  of  individuals,  far  removed 
"  from  the  feat  and  controul  of  the  government  \ 
"  It  was  equally  unreafonable  to  fay,  that  we  were 
"  not  protecled  by  the  treaty,  and  fhould  not 'be, 
"  Vv/hen  theBritiih  government  had  promifed  to  pay 
"  for  all  former  depredations  made  in  that  way  tip- 

Y 


762  HI  S  TO  R  Y    OF   THE 

"  on  our  commerce,  was  it  not  reafonable  to  flip-1 
"  pofe,  they  would  prevent  or  pay  for  any  fuch  depre- 
"  dation  now  made  ?  And  they  certainly  would  pre- 
*'  vent  all  fuch,  which  were  not  from  the  confufion 
"  of  war  rendered  inevitable/' 

As  for  the  proofs  of  imprefTment,  the  gentleman 
is  referred  to  the  depofition  of  Cyprian  Cook,  emit- 
ted at  Norwich  in,  Connecticut.  As  for  his  never 
hearing  of  one  inftance,  where  the  Britifli  govern- 
ment avowed  the  right  of  impreiiing,  or  practifed 
upon  it,  the  inference  muft  be,  that  Mr.  Tracy  has 
ears  of  a  particular  conftruction.  Whether  Mr. 
Pitt  himfelfafTerted  the  right  is  of  no  confequence. 
TheRritifh,  in  the  Weft-Indies,  univerfally  avowed 
and  practifed  upon  it .  Mr .  Tracy  fays  that  all  com- 
plaints to  government  were  immediately  redrafted. 
He  fhould  have  told  us  what  redrefs  was  obtained 
in  the  cafe  related  by  captain  Cook.  He  then  mounts 
upon  that  favourite  topic  of  the  Britim  officers 
acting  without  orders.  Compenfation  clofes  the  cho- 
rus. We  now  proceed  with  the  lift  of  Britifli  pira- 
cies, leaving  Mr.  Tracy  to  deny  their  exiftence, 
as  long  as  he  (hall  think  proper. 

A  Philadelphia  newfpaper,  of  the  8th  of  April, 
1796,  informs,  that  the  brig  Maria  Wilman,  of  Bal- 
timore, captain  Oaks,  was  taken  in.  Tortola  by  the 
Bull  Dog  floopj  and  there  fold  at  auction.  She  was 
from  Demarara,  bound  to  Baltimore,  with  a  cargo 
of  fugar  and  coffee.  It  farther  fays,  that,  on  Monday, 
the  nth  of  April,  1796,  the  brig  Charlotte,  of  Pro- 
vidence, arrived  at  Baltimore,  in  thirteen  days  from 
Martinique.  Captain  Watts,  of  the  fchooner  Alex- 
andria,-of  Alexandria,  came  pafTenger,  along  with  a 
•number  of  other  Americans.  Their  veflels  had 
been  contracted  for,  and  they  were  obliged  to  leave 
them.  This  corroborates  the  account  already  given 
by  captain  Samuel  Green.  In  fummer,  1793, 


UNITED  STATES.  163 

on  Hen  del  d  and  John  Singletary  had  been  arrefted 
on  board  of  the  Citizen  Genet,  a  French  privateer, 
lying  in  the  Delaware,  and  Henfield  was  tried  in 
this  city,  foon  after,  for  having  enlifted  in  the  French 
fervice.  In  fpite  of  a  buftle  made  by  govern- 
ment, he  was  acquitted.  In  the  eye  of  reafon> 
it  feems  equally  culpable  to  have  fold  privateers  to 
Britain .  yet  no  notice  has  been  taken  of  that  practice. 

A  paragraph  from  Fredericfburg,  dated  April  ift, 
1796,  fays,  that,4afl  week,  arrived  in  the  river,  the 
fchooner  William,  captain  John  Scott,  from  Baila- 
terre,  St.  Kitts.  He  laid  that  on  the  23d  of  Febru- 
ary, between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  ia 
Baffaterre  road,  he  was  boarded  by  a  boat  with  five 
men  with  cutlaffes.  They  belonged  to  a  Britifh 
armed  (loop  lying  there.  They  ordered  William 
McCoyx  a  native  of  Fredericfburg,  into  the  boat  j, 
but,  being  prevented  from  taking  him,  they  went 
back  to  the  iloop.  Immediately  sfter,  they  returned 
with  their  commander,  one  Williams,  and  an  addi- 
tional number  of  men,  armed  with  piftols  and  cut- 
lafTes.  They  took  away  from  the  fchooner,  John 
Mansfield,  William  M'Coy,  and  two  blacks*  Next 
morning,  captain  Scott  went  on  fhore,  and  proved 
thefe  people  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States.  He 
could  recover  only  the  two  blacks.  Every  Ameri- 
can at  the  port  fharecl  a  fimilar  fate.  A  Baltimore 
fchooner  was  flript  of  all  her  hands,  excepting  the 
mate  and  a  boy. 

A  practice  had  for  fometime  prevailed  at  Norfolk, 
in  Virginia,  of  fending  horfes  to  the  Britifh  Weft- 
Indies  to  mount  their  cavalry.  This,  if  not  a  breach 
of  neutrality,was  atbeftaplain  enough  indication  to 
France  that  we  preferred  the  mod  petty  felf-intereft 
to  any  fuccefs  on  her  fide.  A  Kingflon  newfpa- 
paper,  of  the  2^d  of  February,  1796,  has  the  fol- 
io wing  article,  "  Captain  Huntington reports,  that..,. 


164  HISTORY    OF   THE 

*•'  when  he  left  America,  admiral  Murray,  with 
"  his  fquadron,  was  lying  in  Hampton  road,  waiting 
"  to  convoy  the  horfes  that  were  purchafed  for  the 
"  dragoons  in  St.  Domingo."  Two  articles,  dated 
Philadelphia,  April  1 2th,  fay,  that  three  of  thefe  vef- 
fels,  with  their  freights  of  horfes,  were  taken  by  the 
French,  and  fent  into  Cape  Francois.  This  is  the 
only  capture  by  the  French  of  American  flapping 
that  has  yet  occurred  in  compiling  the  laft  or  the 
prefent  chapter* 

The  Federal  Gazette  of  Baltimore,  of  the  i^th 
of  April,  1796,  contains  a  letter  from  Tortola. 
The  writer  mentions  the  irregular  proceedings  of 
the  Britifh  court  of  admiralty  in  that  ifland,  refpec- 
ting  American  captures.  The  captains  of  the  fhips 
of  war  were  permitted  to  detain  the  i^afters  andfu- 
percargoes  of  the  prizes  as  priibners  on  board  of  their 
veifels,  till  they  were  deprived  of  opportunities  for 
employing  proper  counfel.  Enormous  cofls  -were 
granted,  of  which  the  bench  received  afliare.  Some 
particular  circumflances  of  injufticre  are  mentioned 
in  the  cafe  of  the  Maria  Wilm^n,  captain  Oaks, who, 
in  the  fame  newfpaper,  is  noticed  as  having,  at  this 
time,  arrived  fafe  with  his  veflel  at  Baltimore.  It  is 
likely  that  he  wrote  this  very  letter  ;  but  perhaps  nei- 
ther he  nor  his  owners  dtirfl  avow  it,  for  fear  of  of- 
fending the  Britifh  party.  In  an  independent  coun- 
try, this  dread  mayfeem  flrange,  yet  nothing  is  more 
notorioufly  true,  than  that  fuch  influence  jp  extreme- 
ly active  and  formidable.  Every  mercantile  man, 
and  every  newfprinter,  who  dares  to  {peak,  with 
energy,  of  the  infolence  and  rapine  of  the  Queen  of 
Ifles,  runs  imminent  hazard  of  perfecution.  The 
Britifh  tories,  in  our  Icaport  towns,  feconded  by 
the  American  intereft,  will  (pare  no  toil  or  ex- 
pence  to  make  him  infolvent  and  infamous.  Ge- 
Reral  defcription  cannot  convey  a  complete  picture 


UNITED    STATES.  165- 

of  their  proceedings.  Their  own  pencil  furnifhes 
the  befh  portrait.  Here  follows  an  extract  from  a 
federal  electioneering  hand-bill.  An  hundred  years 
hence,  it  may  be  hoped,  that  Americans  will  turn 
over  fiich  outcafts  of  typography,  with  the  fame 
contemptuous  pity  as  an  Englishman  of  the  preient 
age  looks  back  on  the  fallies  of  Settle  and  Tom 
Browne*. 

"  To  the  Citizens  of  New-Tor  k. 

"  Jacobin  men  and  jacobin  meafures  are  all  hol- 
"  low  and  rotten.  An  instructive  inftance  has  juft 
"  occurred.  The  bank  of  Pennsylvania  was  eftab- 
"  lifhed  in  oppofition  to  the  bank  of  the  United 
"  States.  A  jacobin  prefident,  fecretary,  and  a  ma- 
"  jority  of  jacobin  directors  were  appointed.  The 
"  iifTue  has  difclofed  a  fcene  of  jacobin  villainy.  It 
"  turns  out,  that  the  prefident,  fecretary,  and  the 
"  notable  John  Swanwick,  have  fraudently,  aad  by 
"  colludon,  drawn  out  of  the  bank  one  hundred  and 
'*  feventy  thoufand  dollars  more  than  they  had  a 
"right  to.  John  Swanwick,  the  famous  French 
"  American  democrat,,  whom  the  good  democrats 
"  in  Philadelphia  have  litely  made  a  member  of 
"  Congrefs,  in  oppofition  t  >  the  prudent  and  honefl 
"  part  of  the  city,  now  appears  in  his  true  colour, 
"  an  unprincipled  fwindler.  Such  is  the  authentic 
"  intelligence  juft  received  from  Philadelphia.  And 
"  yet  a  large  body  of  citizens,  many  good  but  delu- 
"  ded  ones,  are  draining  every  nerve  to  place  once 
"  more  in  Congrefs  the  ariflocratic,  democratical, 
"  Jacobinical,  Edward  Livingfton.  Paufe.,  fellow- 
"  citizens  ;  be  affured  time  will  prove  to  his  moft  in- 
"  fatuated  followers,  that  he  is  as  rotten  and  hollow 
"  as  his  compeers." 

tf 
*  See  Johnfon's  Life  of  Drydcnw 


166  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Pofterity,  if  this,  page  chances  to  reach  them, 
will  naturally  aik  where  lies  the  propriety  of  re- 
printing fuch  rubbifh  ?  The  -jr.fwer  is,  that  fuch 
writings  were,  in  December,  1796,  propagated  at 
New- York,  with  the  approbation -of  a  very  nume- 
rous party.  The  deiign  was,  to  defeat  there-elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Livingfton  as  reprefentative  in  Cdn- 
grefs  for  that  city  ;  and  while  any  remembrance  of 
this  handbill  (hall  remain,  its  authors  and  its  abet- 
tors rnuft  be  abhorred  by  every  honeft  man. 

The  bank  of  Pennfylvaria  was  not  eflablifhed  in 
oppoiltion  to  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  Theiield 
of  competition  was  alike  open  to  every  perlbn .  It  has 
never  been  faid  that  the  Pennsylvania  bank  tiled  an 
unfair  means  to  rival  or  injure  the  bank  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  The  latter  is  here  referred  to,  as  if  it 
were  fomething  facred  $  and  yet  the  holders  of  its 
ffcock  are  afhamedo>~  afraid  of  telling  their  names*. 
Mr.  Swanwick  did  not,  in  tlu  clofe  ct  1796,  nor 
for  a  long  time  before  it,  owe  the  Pennfylvania  bank 
a  dollar.  Here  he  is  charged  as  an  unprincipled 
Jivindlsr,  for  having  made  fraudulent  draughts  out 
of  it.  Thofe  who  voted  for  his  f  election  oppofed 
the  honeftip&rt  of  this  city.  But  even  if  it  had  been 
all  as  true  as  it  was  falfe,  this  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  election  of  Livingfton,  anymore  than  the  idle 
ilory  of  Mr.Gallatin,  ileeping  under  hedges,  afford- 
ed a  reafon  for  rejecting  general  Dearbournet.  The 
fame  tidue  of  defamation,  falfehood,  and  vulgarity, 
runs  through  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  wri- 
tings of  the  federal  party.  So  many  different  fam- 
ples  are  here  given  to  convince  people,  at  a  diftance 
from  the  fcene,  that  theft  are  not  partial  fpecimens. 
One  would  think  that  the  friends  of  order  have  im- 
ported a  cargo  of  Coflacks  or  Hottentots  to  act  as 

*  Supra,  chap.  ir.  f  Ibid. 


UNITED    STATES.  ,67 

their  penmen.  Their  encomiums  are,  if  poffible, 
more  loathfome  than  their  inve&ive.  To  cenfure 
Prefident  Wafhington  is  ranked^  by  the  Colurnbiau 
Gentinel,  with  "  ridiculing  ***f  *^^  or  biack- 
"  guarding  the  Bible*." 

Recurring  again  to  the  cafe  of  the  Baltimore  brig, 
it  may  well  be  fuppofed,  that  captain  Oaks  was 
afraid  of  proyoking  fuch  a  {warm  of  fcorpions* 
For  the  fame  obvious  and  weighty  reafon  many  nar- 
ratives of  Britifh  piracy  have  been  fecreted,  by  the 
fufferers,  from  the  public  prints.  Of  the  fifty-five 
mips  taken  by  the  Argonaut,  perhaps  no  regular 
account  of  the  capture  of  fix  has  appeared  in  any 
newfpaper. 

^  The  Maryland  Journal,  of  the  2d  of  May,  1796, 
gives  the  following  account  as  from  captaiii  Wade 
of  the  fchooner  Polly,  from  Jamacia.  He  fays,  that 
from  the  soth  of  February  to  the  ift  of  April,  thir- 
teen American  prizes  had  been  fent  into  Kingfton. 
Threeof  thefe  were  fchooners,  belonging  to  Oliver 
and  Thomfbn,  of  Baltimore.  Another  was  a  new 
copper-bottomed  fhip  from  Baltimore  to  Calcutta. 

On  the  3d  of  May,  the  fchooner  Edward  and 
William,  captain  Levin  Jones,  arrived  at  Baltimore, 
in  nineteen  days  from  Port~au-Paix.  In  the  paiTage, 
{he  met  with  a  brig  from  Port-au-Prince  bound  for 
New-London.  The  people  told  captain  Jones,  that 
five  of  them  had  been  imprefled  by  a  Britidt frigate. 
On  the  28th  of  April,  they  were  chafed  by  another, 
but  night  cprning  on  they  got  out  of  her  way. 

On  the  fame  day,  the  Ariel,  captain  Fifher,  ar- 
rived at  Baltimore  from  Jacquemel.  He  had  fpoke 
to  the  fchoonerElizabeth,  of  Philadelphia,  from  Ja- 
maica. The  captain  gave  him  an  account  of  twen- 
ty-Jeven  American  vefTels  carried  into  that  ifland 

*  Aurora,  January  4th, 


l68  HISTORY    OF. THE 

for  trial,  und  of  two  carried  into  the  Mole,  which 
were  to  be  lent  to  Jamaica.  He  adds,  that  all  yef- 
iels  to  or  from  French  iilands  were  feized. 

On  the  1 7th  of  April,  the  brig  Sifters,  captain 
Brent,  arrived  in  Hampton  roads  from  Guernfey. 
She  had,  on  the  i2th  of  March,  been  boarded  by 
the  Thetis,  a  Bermudian  corfair.  Thefe  pirates 
took  out  the  matter  and  crew,  rummaged  the  vef- 
iel,  broke  up  all  the  letters  and  papers,  and,  after 
three  hours,  permitted  her  to  proceed.  • 

«  BOSTON,  APRIL  16. 

«  By  an  arrival,  on  Saturday,  of  a  veffil  from  Curracca,  we 
"  received  the  following -jrotefl  of  Hugh  Wiljon,  mafter  cf 
«  American  brig  called  the  Jay,  belonging  to  Baltimore ;  who 
u  being  (kdyfuuorn  before  the  notary  royal  and  public  of  St. 
^  Bartholomew^  dxlareth  : — 

tc  That,  having  got  his  veilel  captured  and  condemned, 
"as  hereafter  will  appear,  and  having  had  his  log -book  and 
u  all  the  papers  belonging  to  the-  veficl  and  to  himfelf 
"  taken  from  him,  all  to  the  (hipping  articles  and  a  fmall 
u  memorandum  book  of  his  private  difburfements,  he  is  obli- 
"  ged  to  give  his  declaration  from  memory,  and  to  the  beft  of 
"  his  recollection,  viz.  that,  on  the  lOth  of  April  laft,  1795, 
"he  failed  in  faidbrig  from  St.  Pierre,  in  the  ifland  of  Mar - 
"  tir.ique,  bound  to  Antigua  :  that,  on  the  1 2th  of  faid  month, 
"  in  the  morning,  he  was  boarded  by  the  French  armed  fchoo- 
"  ner  called,  (as  near  as  he  could  recollect)  the  Alhenienne, 
"  commanded  by  one  Pafcal  from  Guadaulope,  under  the  lee 
"  of  which  ifland  the  brig  then  was,  and  in  the  evening  was 
"  carried  into  BafTaterre  road,  in  faid  laft  ifland.  That  the 
u  fame  deponent  and  all  his  crew  were  immediately  put  onboard 
"  a  French  floop  of  war,  where  they  were  detained  about  eight 
<c  or  ten  days*,  without  knowing  what  was  the  intention  of  the 
"  French  to  do  with  the  faid  brig,  and  without  ever  having  been 
*•'  h -ardor  examined. That  the  deponentand  the  fupercargo,  Mr. 
<c  John  Starck,wcre  fent  qn  fhore  and  conduced  to  the  interpreter 
tc  or  linc-uifter,  who  told  them  the  brig  Jay  and  her  remaining 
a  cargo,  confiftirig  in  corn  and  (caves,  had  already  been  con- 
a  dunned,  and  who  furnifhed  Mr1.  Starck  with  a  copy  of  the 


UNITED  STATES; 

"condemnation.  That  Mr.  Starck  was  put  at  liberty;  but 
"  the  deponent  was,  the  next  day,  thrown  into  BafTaterre  goal, 
cc  where  he  remained  about  ten  days,1  after  which  he  was  drove 
"  out  of  the  faid  gaol  and  put  in  chains,  onboard  a  fmall  French 
"fchooner  bound  to  Point-a-Petre,  the  deponent  lying  all  the 
"  pafiage  (about  fixty  hours),  witheight  prifoners  more,  chained 
<c  to  the  fame  bar,  in  the  hold  of  faid  fchooner,  upon  the  ftone  bai- 
"  laft,  with  a  very  fcanty  and  indifFerent  food.  That,  having 
"  arrived  in  fuch  a  fituation  at  Point -,i-Petre,  the  deponent  was 
"  was  immediately  put  on  board  one  of  theprifonfliips  in  the  harbor 
"  where  he  was  detained  for  near  eight  months,  that  is  to  fay$ 
"  until  the  I  ft  inftant,  (January,  1796,)  when  captain  Whee- 
w  ler,  of  the  brig  Peggy,  of  New- York,  having  obtained  per- 
"  mifHon  to  pick  out  American  fiilors,  that  might  be  found  on 
"  board  of  the  different  prifonfhips,  came  along  fide  the  fhip 
"  where  the  deponent  was  detained.  That  having  made  his 
c<  cafe  known  to  him,  he,  the  faid  captain  Wheeler,  took  the  de- 
ponent along  with  him,  and  put  him  onboard  the  faid  brig 
"  Peggy*  That,  on  the  nth  inft.  or  thereabout,  the  depon- 
"  ent  went  in  faid  brig  from  Point-a-Petre,  and  arrived  in  this 
"  harbour  of  Guftavia  yefterday,  the  lyh  inft.  without  yet 
<c  knowing  what  has  become  of  his  veflel,  the  brig  Jay,  her 
"  cargo,  or  any  thing  belonging  to  her,  and  without  ever  hav- 
"  ing  been  heard,  either  in  behalf  of  faid  property  or  of  himfelf, 
"during  all  the  time  of  near  nine  months,  he  was  detained  in 
"Gaudaloupe  plundered  of  every  thing  belonging  to  him,  and 
c*  not  left  a  fecond  fhirt  to  put  on  ;  that,  during  his  detention  in 
"  Point-a-Petre,  captain  Lyle,  of  Baltimore,  as  he  paf&d  by 
u  the  faid  prifonfhip,  having  feen  and  recollected  the  deponent, 
<c  had  applied  to  the  commiflaire  de  guerre  in  his  behalf,  but  in 
"  vain,  as  faid  captain  Lyle  afterwards  told  the  deponent. 

ce  [Here  follows  the  proteft  of  the  judge  and  notary  public 
"  declaring  the  capture  and  condemnation  to  be  contrary  to  the 
"  law  of  nations,  and  of  humanity  ;  the  whole  isolated  at  Guf- 
"tavia,  (St.  Bartholemew,)  the  I4th  January,  1796.]" 

The  infertion  of  the  preceding  article,  ought  to 
vindicate  this  work  from  the  fufpicionx  of  a  defire 
to  conceal  or  palliate  the  injuries  committed" againfl 
American  commerce  by  the  French  republic.  No- 
thing of  that  nature  has  been  intentionally  over- 
looked ;  for  the  only  object  of  the  author  is  th$ 

Z 


176  HISTORY  OF  TH? 

difcovery  and  publication  of  truth,  without  the 
fmalleli:  concern  what  nation,  or  what  individual 
may  chance  to  appear  in  an  unfavourable  light. 
From  this  inftance  of  French  piracy,  we  return  to 
Britlih  depredations. 

A  paragraph,  dated  Norfolk,  April  2.6th,  1796, 
mentions  the  arrival  of  the  fchoontr  Eleanor,  cap- 
tain Jackfon.  He  gave  an  account  of  the  HurTar, 
a  Britilh  frigate,  having  captured  the  (hip  Alexan- 
der of  Yorktown,  captain  Orr,  from  Lifbon  to  Nor- 
folk. The  crew  were  taken  on  board  of  the  Hu£ 
far,  and  the  fliip  heiielf  was  lent  to  Halifax.  The 
Maryland  Journal,  of  the  2d  of  May,  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  fchooner  Betfey  of  Bofton,  captain 
Philips.  She  was  taken  by  the  Britiih,  but  re- cap- 
tured by  the  crew,  who  delivered  up  the  Britifh  as 
pnibners  to  the  French,  at  Jacquernel.  The  fame 
newfpaper  tells  of  the  feizure  of  the  fliip  Alexander, 
of  Baltimore,  by  the  Britifh.  She  was  bound  from 
Dcrnarara  for  Baltimore.  The  captors  lent  her  in- 
to Grenada,  where  the  cargo  was  libelled.  There 
is  alfo  a  (latement  from  captain  Wade  of  the  fchoo- 
15 er  Polly,  of  thirteen  fail  of  Americans  which 
had  been  fent  into  Kingdon,  Jamaica,  between  the 
2oth  of  February,  and  the  ift  of  April,  1796. 
One  of  thefe  v'eflels  was  bound  from  Baltimore  to 
Calcutta. 

It  feem's  amazing  that,  in  the  face  of  fuch  injuries, 
any  member  of  Congrefs  could  recommend  appro- 
priations for  the  Britifh  treaty.  Public  cnriofity 
has  been  excited  by  the  concealment  of  Mr.  Jay's 
in ;lr unions.  Accefs  has  been  obtained  to  this  paper, 
and  leave  lias  been  given  to  make  an  abftraci  of 
every  material  part  of  it.  This,  though  not  in  form, 
yet  in  iiibflance,  will  anfwer  the  end  in  view. 

Some  notice  has  already  been  taken  of  the  lingu- 
!ar  conduct  of  the  executive  in  refufmg  to  treat 


UNITED  STATES.   '  171 

with  Genet,  becaufe  the  Senate  were  not  then  fit- 
ting, and  thereafter,  while  they  actually  were  in 
felfion,  of  his  refolving  to  enter  into  a  Britifh  nego- 
ciation,  and  nominating  Mr.  Jay  as  envoy,  with- 
out giving  the  Senate  previous  intimation  of  fuch 
a  delign.  The  mefTage  does  not  alk  either  advice 
or  content,,  but  abruptly  declares  that  he  has  thought 
•p roper.  This  is  not  the  conflitutional  flyle  of  alk- 
ing  advice  or  content.  The  departure  from  the 
ipirit  of  the  conltitutian  is  obvious. 

The  meffage  was  received  by  the  Senate  on  the 
i6th  of  April,  1794.  ®n  ^ie  X7tn?  a  motion  vvr.s 
made  in  the  following  words:  ct  that,  previous  to 
"  going  i'nto  the  con  ft  deration  ©f  the  nomination  of 
<c  a  fpecial  envoy  to  the  court  oi  Great  Britain,  the 
"  Preu'dent  of  the  United  States  be  requefted  to  in- 
"  form  the  Senate  of  the  whole  buftncjs  with  which 
<c  the  propofed  envoy  is  to  he  charged."  This  mo- 
tion was  negatived.  Thus  the  advice  and  conjent  of 
the  Senate,  as  required  by  the  conititution,  were 
overlooked.  Witiiout  consulting  them,  the PreQdent 
refolvedto  enter  into  a  negotiation,  and  named  an  en- 
voy. When  he  fent  down  the  mefTage  to  the  Senate, 
as  to  his  having  done  fo,  he  did  not  let  them  know 
what  the  negociation  was  to  be  about.  If  the  words 
advice  and  conjent  mean  anything,  it  muft  furely  be, 
that  the  Senate  are  to  be  previoully  acquainted  with, 
and  confulted  upon*,  the  bufmefs  that  an  ambafTador 
is  going  to  undertake.  There  can  be  no  other  ra- 
tional explanation  of  the  phrafe.  The  Senate  could 
not  pretend  to  give  their  advice  about  the  expe- 
diency of  commencing  a  treaty,  when  they  did  not 
know  the  terms  on  which  it  was  to  begin  >  Yet, 
fuch  is  the  fpirit  in  a  majority  of  that  body,  that 
they  refufed,  as  appears  above,  to  requeft  a  com- 
munication from  the  Prefident  upon  this  point. 
They  had  a  title  to  have  demanded  fuch  an  ecclair- 
ciiement.  In  private  life?  it  would  be  mockery  to 


j-72  HISTORY  OF  THE 

afk  a  man  to  confent  to  any  bufmeis,  without  firft 
telling  him  the  fcope  cf  it.  Without  fuch  know- 
ledge it  is  impoflible  that  he  can  give  any  thing  de- 
iervingthe  name  either  of  advice  or  conjent* 

On  the  1 9th  of  April,  a  motion  was  made  in  the 
Senate  of  which  the  following  is  part.  ct  That  to 
<c  permit  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  hold,  at 
u  the  fame  time,  any  other  office  or  employment, 
•a  emanating  from,  and  holden  at  the  pleaiure  of 
*'  the  Executive,  is  contrary  tothefpirit  of  the  con- 
u  flitution,  and,  as  tending  to  expofe  them  to  the 
/c  influence  of  the  Executive,  \smifchieruous  and  im- 
**  politic.9'  This  motion  parted  in  the  negative, 
ten  to  feventeen.  On  the  27th  of  November,  1794, 
Dr.  William  Smith  objected  in  Congrefs  to  the  de- 
mocratic focicty  of  this  city,  for  the  holding  of  fuch 
a  doctrine.  But  its  being  lupported  by  io  large  a 
part  of  the  Senate  ought  at  leail  to  havefoftened  the 
fe verity  of  his  cenfure. 

We  now  come  to  the  inftructions  of  our  envoy. 
Of  thefe  an  entire  copy  cannot,  as  above  ftated,  be 
obtained ;  but  permifiion  has  been  procured  to  make 
a  copious  abftract.  They  fet  out  with  directing 
Mr.  Jay  to  obtain  redrefs  for  the  piracies  committed 
on  our  commerce  by  authority  of  inftructions  from 
the  king  and  council.  He  is  next  enjoined  to  draw 
to  a  conclufion  all  points  of  difference  concerning 
the  peace  of  1783.  The  Executive  then  exprefles 
a  wiih,  that  "  the  debts,  the  interefl  claimed  upon 
"  them,  and  all  things  relating  to  them,  be  put  out- 
i£  right  in  a  diplomatic  dijcuflion,  as  being  certainly  of 
tc  a  judicial  nature  to  be  decided  by  OUK,  courts  "  If 
this  point  could  not  be  obtained,  he  was  to  fup- 
port  the  doctrines  of  government,  "  with  argu- 
<c  ments  proper  for  the  occafion,  and  with  that  at- 
a  tention  to  his  former  public  opinions,  which  felf- 
u  reipect  will  juftify.^  This  phrafe,  as  to  former 


UNITED  STATES.  f;g 

public  opinions,  does  not  feem  very  happy.  Mr. 
Jay,  as  a  judge,  had  declared,  from  the  bench,  that 
the  Englifh  were  juftified  in  detaining  the  weftern 
pofts,  on  account  of  the  debts  due  to  Britain. 
Hence  attention  to  his  former  opinions,  would 
lead  him  to  vindicate  the  latter,  at  the  cxpcnce  of 
America. 

The  inftru&ions  proceed  to  fay,  that,  "  the  Bri- 
"  tifh  government,  having  denied  their  abetting  the 
u  Indians,  we  mull,  of  courfe,  acquit  them.  But  we 
"  have  fatisfaftory  proofs,  fome  of  which,  howe- 
u  ver,  cannot,  as  you  will  difcover,  be  well  ufed 
"  in  public,  that  Britifh  agents  are  guilty  of  ftir- 
<c  ring  up,  and  aflifting,  with  arms,  ammunition, 
"  and  warlike  implements,  the  different  tribes  of 
"  Indians  againft  us. 

"It  is  incumbent  upon    that  government  tb  rc- 
"  drain   thefe  agents,    as  a  forbearance  to  retrain 
"  them,  cannot  be  interpreted    otherwife  than   as  a 
44  determination    to  countenance  them."     Mr.  Jay 
was  farther  direfted  to  in (1ft,    "  that  the  Indians 
"  dwelling  in  the  territories  of  one,  (hall  not  be  in* 
"  tcrfered  with  by  the  other."     He  was  likewife  en- 
joined, "  to  explain  the  pacific  wifhes  of  America, 
tc  in  cafe  that  he  fhould   find  the   court  of  London 
"  equally  difpofed  for  amity."     Mr.  Jay  was,  be- 
fides,  inftrufted  to  mention  the  dangerous  effect  that 
might  be  produced  upon  the  minds  of  the  citizens 
of  America,  by  the  continuation  of  outrages  in  the 
Weft-Indies,  while,  at  the   fame  time,   our   courts 
gave  entire  authority  to   claims  for  Britifti  debts. 
Mr.  Jay  was,  in  particular,  enjoined  to  confider,"  the 
ic  inexecution  and  infraction  of  the  treaty,  as  /landing 
c  on   diftintt  grounds  from  the  vexations  and  Jpelia- 
c  tions  ;  Jb  that  no  acljuftment  of  the  former,  is  to  be 
"  influenced  by  the  latter."     Mr.  Jay  was,  in  the  next 
place,  inftruftedj  if  he  fhould  be  able,  to  obtain  fa- 


174  HISTORY  OF  THE 

tis faction,  as  to  the  treipaffes  on  the  treaty  of  1783, 
and  as  to  the  Well-Indian  piracies,  to  found  the 
Bri'dih  mirsiftry  on  the  fubjeci'  of  a  commercial, 
treaty.  If  he  found  this  fubjetc  eligible,  he  was  ef- 
pecially  direeledto  infill  upon  the  following  points/ 

il  i.  Reciprocity  in  navigation,  and  particularly 
cc  to  the  Weft-Indies,  aad  even  to  the  Eaft-Indies. 

cc   2.  The  admifiion  of  wheat,  fifn,  fait  meat,  and 
c  other  great  ilaples,   upon  the  fame  footing  with 
"  the  admi'Iion  of  the  great  Britifh  Ilaples  in  Amc- 
u  can  ports. 

CC     ?.    FREE    SHIPS  TO  MAKE   FREE   GOODS. 

ct  4.  Proper  fecurity  for  the  fafety  of  neutral 
<c  commerce  in  other  refpecls  ;  and  particularly  by 
ct  declaring  provisions  never  to  be  contraband,  ex- 
"  cept  in  the  flrongefl  pofiible  cafe  ;  as  the  block- 
"  ade  of  a  port ;  or,  if  attainable,  by  abolifhing 
cc  contraband,  altogether.  By  defining  a  blockade, 
<c  if  contraband,  mufl  continue,  in  fome  degree,  as 
"  it  is  defined  in  the  armed  neutrality.  By  reftric- 
u  ting  the  opportunities  of  vexation,  in  v  ill  ting  veC- 
"  fels,  and  bringing  under  llricler  management 
"  privateers,  and  expediting  recoveries  againffc 
cc  them  for  mifconduci.  ' 

:  5.  Exemption  of  emigrants,   particularly  ma- 
c  c  nufadurers,  from  rcf train t* . 

cc  6.  Free  export  of  arms  and  military  (lores. 

tc  7.  The  exclufionofthe  term  u  the  moil  favour- 
"  ed  nation,"  as  being  productive  of  embarraffment. 

u  8.  The  convoy  of  merchant  (hips,  by  the  pnlv 
*'  lie  fhips  of  war,  where  it  {hall  be  necerTary,  and 
<c  they  be  holding  the  fame  courfe. 

u  9.  It  is  anxioufly  to  be  defired,  that  the  fiftiing 
cc  grounds  now  engroffed  by  the  Britifli  mould  be 
"  opened  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

*  Every  body  knows  how  admirably  thi$  point  has  been  attended  t». 


UNITED  STATES.  175 

<{  ic»  The  intercourfe  with  England  makes  it  ne- 
<c  cefTary  that  the  disability  ariiing  from  alienage, 
<c  in  cafes  of  inheritance,  fiiould  be  put  on  a  liberal 
u  looting;  or  rather abolimed. 

u  n.  You  may  difcufs  the  fale  of  prizes  in  our 
*c  ports,  while  «we  are  neutral;  and  this,  perhaps, 
<c  may  be  added  to  the  considerations  which  we 
u  have  t6  give,  befides  thole  of  reciprocity. 

cc  1 2.  Proper  fhelter,  defence,  and  fuccour,  againft 
<c  pirates,  fh'ipwreck'.  Sec. 

'"  13.  Full  iecnrity  for  the  retiring  of  the  citizens 
<c  -of  the  United  States  from  the  Britim  dominions 
a  in  cafe  a  -war  fiiould  break  out. 

u  14.  No  privateering  c-ommifllons  to  be  taken 
<c  out  by  the  fubjeds  of  the  one,  or  the  citizens  of 
cc  the  other  party,  againft  each  other*. 

cc  15.  Confuls  to  be  admitted  in  Europe,  the  Wefl 
"  and  Ea(tJnditJs. 

<c  16.  In  c'afe  of  an  Indian  war,  none  but  the  ufu- 
cc  al  fupplies  in  peac'e  mail  be  furnifhed. 

cc  17.  In  peace,  no  troops  to  be  kept  within  a  li- 
<c  mited  diflance  from  the  lakes. 

cc  18.  No  ftipulation  whatever  is  to  interfbre  with 
u  our  obligations  to  France. 

cc  19.  A  treaty  is  not  to  be  continued  beyond  fif- 
teen years." 

The  above  enumeration  prefented,  in  a  general 
point  of  view,  the  objects  which  our  Executive  con- 
Udered  as  deflrable  to  be  comprehended  in  a  com- 
mercial treaty.  But  Mr.  Jay  was  efpecially  caution- 
ed not  to  cxpeft  that  a  treaty  could  be  pofitively  ef- 
fected with  fo  great  a  variety  of  advantages  in  fa- 

*  It  is  hard  to  gucfswhat  our  Executive  could  mean  by  this  ir», 
jundion.  In  cafe  of  a  rnpture  between  this  country  and  England, 
the  chief  way  in  which  we  can  affed  her  intereft,  muft  be  by  attack- 
ing feer  commerce.  Hence  a  ftipulation  for  reftriclin^  our  own  eif- 
•forts  in  that  quarter,  has  not  an  extreme  appearance  of  perfpicuin% 


lj6  HISTORY    OF   THE 

vour  of  America.  Here  it  is  difficult  to  fupprefs 
the  feelings  of  fnrprife,  at  fo  very  injudicious  a 
choice  of  the  time  for  making  a  commercial  treaty 
with  Britain.  Something  has  been  laid  upon  that 
fubjeft  already,  and  to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

The  (ixth  chapter  of  an  acl  of  parliament,  paft 
in  the  2  8th  year  of  the  reign  of  George  the  third, 
nientious  certain  articles  which  may  be  carried 
from  the  United  States  to  the  Britifli  Weft-Indies, 
in  Britifli  bottoms  ;  <md  certain  others  which  may 
be  conveyed  from  the  Britiflf  Weft-Indies  to  the 
United  States  in  Britifli  bottoms.  Mr.  Jay  was  en- 
joined, if  practicable,  to  obtain  the  fame  privilege, 
in  both  cafes,  for  American  bottoms,  but  luch  trea- 
ty, inflead  of  the  ufual  claufe  of  ratification,  was 
to  contain  the  following.  "  This  treaty  mall  be  ob- 
44  ligatory  and  conclusive,  when  the  fame  mall  be 
cc  ratified  by  his  Britannic  majefty  of  the  one  part, 
"  and  by  the  Prefident  of  the  United  States,  by 
cc  and  with  the  advice  and  confent  of  the  Senate,  of 
"  the  other." 

But  if  a  treaty  of  commerce  could  not  be  form- 
ed upon  a  bafis  as  advantageous  as  that  above  fta- 
ted,  Mr.  Jay  was  prohibited  from  concluding  or 
ftgning  anyjuch;  u  it  being  conceived  that  it  would 
*'  not  be  expedient  to  do  any  thing  more  than  to 
"  digeft  with  the  Britiih  miniftry,  the  articles  of 
cc  fuch  a  treaty,  as  they  appeared  willing  to  accede 
tc  to,  referring  them  here  for  consideration  and  fur- 
cc  ther  inflrudion,  previous  to  a  formal  conclufion." 

From  this  part  of  Mr.  Jay's  inftructions,  the  plain 
inference  feems  to  be,  that  he  was  not  at  liberty  to 
flgn  any  treaty  at  all,  till  it  had  been  previously  re- 
mitted to  this  country  for  examination.  Indeed  it 
was  plainly  enough  admitted,  in  the  Houfe  of  Re- 
prefentatives,  that  our  envoy  had  exceeded  his 
powers. 


UNITED  STATES. 

After  this  injunction,  the  inftriKftians  to  Mr. 
Jay  proceed  LnrLrliately  in  the  following  words. 
14  So.ae  of  the  other  points  which  it  would  be  in- 
"  tcreiiing  to  comprehend  in  a  treaty,  may  not  be 
"'  attended  with  difficulty.  Among;  theie,  is  th6 
'*  admiilion  of  oar  commodities  and  maimfac'Uires, 
"generally,  in  the  Bi'ituh  European .  dominions, 
"  upon  :i  footing  equally  good  with  thofe  of  other 
"  foreign  countries.  At  present,  certain  enumera- 
"  reel  articles  only  are  admitted,  and  though  the 
"  enumeration  embraces  all  the  articles  which  it 
(''  is  of  prelent  confequence  to  us  to  be  able  to  export 
"  to  thofe  dominions,  yet,  in  prccefs  of  time,  an  ex- 
"'  tenlion  ofthe  objects  rnay  become  of  moment.  The 
"  lixiTig  of  the  privileges  which  we  now  enjoy,  in  the 
'*  British  Eaft  Indies,  by  toleration  of  the  company's 
*'•  government,  if  any  arrangement  can  be  made  with 
"  the  confenc  of  the  company  for  that  purpofe, 
"  would  alfo  be  a  valuable  ingredient/' 

As  Denmark  and  Sweden  were  upon  very  indif- 
ferent terms  with  the  Britiih  rniniftry,  and  asRuilia* 
the  nominal  ally  of  England,  had,  in  the  American 
war,  appeared  at  the  head  of  the  famous  armed  neu*- 
trality,  it  was  to  be  expected,  that  fome  co-operation 
from  that  quarter  would  greatly  tend  to  enforce  the 
fucceisofMr.  Jay's  errand.  Accordingly,  fome  ideas 
on  thisfubjeclfeem  to  have  occurred  to  our<American 
cabinet.  But  the  timid  and  indeceffive  llyle  in  which 
the  inflrucHons,  as  to  that  point,  are  couched,  mews 
how  little  could  be  refted  upon  them.  Our  envoy  was 
cautioned  as  to  entering  into  fuch  a  negotiation,  if 
there  was  a  danger  of  its  being  difcovered  by  the 
Britifh  court.  Now  this  notion  of  our  Executive 
runs  exprefsly  counter  to  the  common  experience 
of  mankind,  For,  the  very  dread  of  Jay  maturing 
fuch  a  treaty,  would  have  been  the  mod  likely  way 
to  bring  Grenville  to  favourable  terms*  Nothing 

A  a 


j;8  HISTORY   OF   THE 

was  to  be  depended  upon  from  that  quarter,  bu£ 
through  the  operation  of  interefl  or  fear ;  and  the 
ffiorteft  way  to  make  this  improdfion,  was,  by  affec- 
ting a  corre fpon den ce  with  the  Danifh  and  Swedifh 
mhiifters,  even  though  America  had  previously  de- 
termined to  decline  fuch  a  conjunction.  The  for- 
mer armed  neutrality  had  ftruck  England  with  un- 
•ufual  alarm,  and  the  very  dread  of  a  fecond  com- 
bination of  that  fort  would  have  chilled  the  warmed 
drop  of  blood  in  the  veins  of  the  Englifh  nation.  In 
private  life,  when  you  want  to  cheapen  a  piece  of 
goods,  the  firft  argument  is,  that  you  can  go  to  the 
next  itore.  But  jay  was  exprefsly  directed  to  con- 
ceal any  defign  of  fuch  a  nature.  To  give  our  Exe- 
cutive full  juftice,  the  whole  paffage,  as  it  imme- 
diately follows  the  laft  quotation,  is  here  inferted 
verbatim.  ' 

"  You  will  have  no  difficulty  in  gaining  accefs  to 
<c  the  tninifters  of  Ruffia,  Denmark,  and  Sweden, 
"  at  the  court  of  London.  The  principles  of  the 
"  armed  neutrality  would  abundantly  cover  our 
"  neutral  rights.  If,  therefore,  the  fituation  of 
"  things  with  refpecl  to  Great  Britain  fliould  dictate 
"  thenecellity  of  taking  the  precaution  of  foreign  co- 
"  operation  on  this  head  ;  if  no  profped  of  accomoda- 
"  tionfkould  be  thwarted  by  the  danger  of  fuch  a  mea- 
" Jure  being  kntnvn  to  the  Britijh  court ;  and  if  an  en- 
"  tire  view  of  all  our  political  relations,  mall,  in  your 
"  judgment,  permit  the  ftep  ;  you  will  found  thofc 
*c  minifters  upon  the  probability  of  an  alliance  with 
tc  their  nations  to  fupport  thofe  principles.  Howe- 
"  ever,  there  can  be  no  rifk  in  examining  what  can 
"  be  concerted  with  Denmark  and  Sweden,  or  any 
"  other  power,  againft  the  Algerincs.  It  may  be  re- 
"  prefented  to  the  Britidi  miniftry,  how  productive 
"  of  perfect  conciliation  it  might  be  to  the  people  of 
st  the  United  States,  if  Great  Britain  would  ufe  her 


•UNITED  STATES.  179 

'"  influence  with  the  Dcy  of  Algiers  for  the  libera- 
41  tion  of  the  American  citizens  in  captivity,  and  for 
"  a  peace  upon  reasonable  terms.  It  has  been  com- 
44  municatcd  from  abroad,  to  be  the  fixed  policy  of 
"  Great  Britain,  to  check  our  trade  in  grain  to  the 
"  Mediterranean.  This  is  too  doubtful  to  be  alfu- 
"  med,  but  fit  for  enquiry." 

As  to  the  reirriction  in  correfponding  with  the 
miniilers  of  Sweden  and  Denmark,  with  regard  to 
an  armed  neutrality,  the  reader  can  compare  the 
text  with  the  commentary,  and  decide  whether  a 
minuter  like  Jay,  who  had  j unified  the  Britifh  in 
detaining  the  weitern  pods,  was  likely  to  negociatc 
with  the  northern  powers,  under  fuch  equivocal  and 
tremulous  injunctions. 

Another  part  of  the  above  paragraph,  refers  to 
getting  the  Britifh  miniftry  to  obtain  the  liberation, 
of  American  prifbners  in  Algiers.  Our  minuter 
was  to  tell  how  productive  this  ilep  would  be  of 
•perfect  conciliation.  If  the  Britifli  had  defired  the 
latter,  American  failors  would  never  have  been 
carried  as  (laves  into  Barbary.  It  was  publicly  un- 
derflood  in  both  countries,  that  the  court  of  Lon- 
don, by  patching  up  the  Portuguefe  truce,  were  the 
real  authors  of  the  Algerine  piracies.  Noftro  quo- 
que  Jeculo  monftrum.  To  fuch  atrocious,  fuch  aban- 
doned political  bloodhounds,  whofe  guilt  rivals  the 
darkeft  precedent  in  the  records  of  perdition,  the 
application  of  this  trimming,  fawning  ftyle,  was 
perfectly  ufelefs.  It  was  like  telling  a  highwayman 
how  greatly  you  would  thank  him  for  returning 
your  purfe.  Jay,  if  in  earned.,  ought  to  have  a  (Turned 
a  different  tone,  u  You  arc  not  only,"  he  might  have 
faid,  "  corfairs  in  perfon,  but  corfairs  by  proxy. You 
"  have  not  only  accumulated  upon  our  commerce 
"  every  wrong  that  Britifh  bucanneers  were  capably 
a  of  infliding,  but  with  *  meanne&  and  bafene& 


i So  H/STORY    OF    THE 

i4  which  po  language  can  defcribe,  you  have  fum- 
:;  »)oncd  to  your  aid  the  dregs  of  the  human  race- 
i:  ".rill  you  make  reparation,  common  fenfe  loudly 
'"*  exclaims  that  no  treaty  between  us  can  repay  the 
"  trouble  of  iubfcription." 

The  Iviil  fhitence  of  the  above  extract  from  Jay's 
itiftruclions,  fpeaks  of  fomething  as  a  fecret,  which 
was  .in  reality  known  to  the  whole  world.  England 
adhered  to  the  policy  of  checking,  npt  merely  slme- 

•  trade  in  grain  to  tJic  Mediterranean,  but  Ame- 
rican trade  in  every  commodity  to  every  quarter  of 

vorhU    Lord  Sheffield  had  even  wrote  a  b 

-•ncly  popular  in  England,  whcicin  lie  rcccm- 
mended  that  p.oteelion  from  4C  the  povvtu;  of  Bar- 
"  bary"  fhovild  not  be  granted  by  England  to  Ame- 
rican commerce.  This  ws.3,  hi  other  words,  recom- 
rnendls^:1;  that  thefe  robbers  Co  aid  be  turned  loofe 
upon  us,  at  ti:c  fir  it  opportunity*  V\rhen  jay  went 
to  England,  lord  Sheffield,  the  apofrle  of  this  pro- 
jeci,  was  high  in  the  confidence  of  Mr.  1'itt.  i'b  that 
the  conduct  of  the  latter  was  merely  an  iliuih  c.r?on 
of  the  principles  of  the  former.  Yet  our  KxccutAe 
fpeaks,  in  the  inftruclions,  as  if  thir  rev.  s  iiad  i;c;eri 
c  -/vrevecl  by  fome  fecret  channel,  '••  the  doc, 

trine  and  practice  of  the  Biitiiii  rnirJil.ry  wcie 
dike  notorious.  Nay,  Mr,  Tench  Co;.c  bad  wrote 
sn  an  Twer  to  Sheffield,  and  in  particular  to  this  Al- 
gerine  plan,  fevcral  years  before  Mr.  Jay  went  to 
England.  Thus  our  Executive  might  have  f» 
full  evidence  as  to  t/i?  fixed  policy  of  Britain^  in 
the  ftoi*e  of  every  bookfeller  in  Philadeiphis. 

icxt  part  of  the  inflruclions  is  in  thele  words. 

ct  -Such  are  the  outlines  of  the  conduc't  which  the 

4  Preddej:it..wi(hes3'rcu  to  purfue.  He  is  aware  that 

•-his  diilance,  and  during  the  prefent  inflabi- 
c  llty  of  public  events,  he  cannot  undertake  to  pre- 
'  fcribc  rules  whicb  (hall  be  irrevocable  j  you 


UNITED  STATES. 
**  therefore,  confider  the  ideas  herein  expreifed,  as 
*'  amounting  to  recommendations  only,  which,  in  your 
"  discretion  you  may  modify,  as  feems  mofc  bene£- 
"  ciai  to  the  United  States,  except  in  the  following 
"  cafes,  which  arc  immutable. 

"  i .  That,  as  the  Britifli  miniflry  will  cloubtlefs 
"  be  fblicitous  to  detach  us  from  France,  and  may, 
"  probably,  make  forne  overtures  of  this  kind  ;  you 
"  will  inform  them  that  the  government  of  the  Uni- 
"  ted  States  will  not  derogate  from  our  treaties  and 
"  engagements  with  France,  and  that  experience  has 
"  fhewn  that  we  can  be  honed  in  our  duties  to  the 
*'  Britifh  nation,  without  laying  otirfelves  under  any 
"  particular  reflraints.as  to  other  nations  ;  and, 

"  2.  That  no  treaty  of  commerce  be  concluded, 
*'  contrary  t<?  jke  fore^oinp''  prohibition." 

This  extracl  concludes  the  inftrudions.  A  fliort 
analyfis  will  evince  that  they,  are  not  remarkable 
for  perfpicuity.  We  (hall  begin  at  their  outfet,  and 
attempt  a  fhort  £  etch  of  their  merits. 

The  firil  object  Hated  in  the  inflruclions  is,  to  ob- 
tain redrefs  for  the  piracies,  or,  as  the  paper 
terms  it,  "  for  the  -vexations  and  fpoliations  com- 
ic  mitted  on  our  commerce."  The  moil  atrocious 
of  thele  vexations*  was  the  irnpreilment  of  Ameri-- 
can  icamen  ;  yet,  in  the  v/hole  text  of  the  inftruo 
tions,  of  which  about  five-fixths  have  been  exactly 
cited,  nothing  dhlincl  or  decifive  is  faid  pn  that 
point.  We  have  inferted  above,  an  entire  copy 
of  the  whole  nineteen  articles  upon  which  Mri 
Jay  was  authorifed  to  found  a  commercial  treaty. 
In  thefe,  nothing  levels  at  the  practice  of  imprefl^ 
ment,  unlefs  it  can  be  implicated  under  the  general 
phrafe,  u  as  to  the  fafety  of  neutral  coipjnerce,'* 
and  6'  reftritiing  the  opportunities  of  vexations  in 
"  vifiting  vcflels."  Rcftridion  is  one  thing,  and 
prohibition  is  Another  ;.  fo  that  even  if  impreilraent 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

had  been  really  implied,  the  language  was  too  vague 
and  equivocal  for  the  objecl.  The  treaty,  as  it  now 
ilands,  contains  not  one  iingle  word  about  the  pro- 
te-ftion-  of  American  feamen.  After  Grenville  and 
Jay  had  almoft  finiflied  the  articles  of  this  paper, 
jay  fent  a  note  to  the  Britifh  minifter,  containing 
eighteen  correclions,  or  additions,  that  had  occur- 
red to  him.  Only  one  of  them,  viz,  the  fixteenth, 
deferves  publication  here.  It  is  in  thefe  words. 

u  An  article  ought  to  be  added,    to  prevent  the 
4  impreffmenfrof  each  other's  people." 

To  this  claufe,  the  aniwer  was  thus. 

cc  Lord  Grenville  can  fee  no  reafon  whatever  > 
c{  why  fuch  an  article  ihould  not  be  added."  No 
farther  notice  was  taken  by  Mr.  Jay  of  the  bufinefs. 
As  to  the  authenticity  of  this  flngnlarcorrefpondencej 
it  has  been  firft  had  from  a  member  of  the  Houfe 
of  lleprefentatives  of  laft  Congrefs,  who  read  it 
when  lying  on  the  table  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
fubftance  of  it  was  publifhed,  laft  fall,  in  Britifh  Ho- 
nour and  Humanity.  It  was  fmce  repeated  to  the 
author  by  a  member  of  the  Senate.  As  for  the  merit 
of  our  envoy,  in  this  cafe,  a  thouland  volumes  of 
diplomatic  hiftory  would  not  furnifh  fuch  another 
inftance  of  negligence  in  the  duty  of  office. 

The  intensions  next  obferve,  that  the  debts  due 
to  England  arc  to  be  u  put  outright  %  in  a  diploma- 
cc  tic  diiculTion,  as  being  certainly  of  a  judicial  na- 
ct  ture  to  be  decided  by  our  courts."  Inflead  of  this, 
Mr.  Jay  erecled  an  arbitrary  board  of  five  commit 
fioners.  Thus  American  debtors  were,  with  one 
clam  of  his  pen,  deprived  of  the  right  of  a  trial  by 
jury.  The  Prefident  and  Senate  ratified  this  breach 
of  jufHce  and  of  Jaw. 

*  Irt  pafling,  one  cannot  fail  to  admire  the  clafficul  ftyle  of  our 
cabinet, 


UNITED    STATES.  183 

The  infbrudions  likewiie  fay,  that  "  the  Britifh 
"  government,  having  denied  the  abetting  of  the 
"  Indians,  -we  mujl,  of  courje,  acquit  them."  On  the 
fame  principle,  an  American  debtor,  denying  his 
debt  before  the  five  commiflioncrs,  they  muft^  of 
courfe,  acquit  him. 

Mr.  Jay  was  alfo  to  confider,  c<  the  inex«cution 
u  and  infraction  of  the  treaty,  as  Handing  on  dii- 
"  tind  grounds  from  the  vexations  and  fpolia- 
u  tions;  fo  that  no  adjustment  of  the  former,  ig 
*'  to  be  influenced  by  the  latter ."  The  general 
face  of  the  treaty  plainly  fets  off  the  debts 
due  to  Britain,  againft  the  detention  of  the  wci- 
tern  pods,  and  the  piracies  in  the  W eft-Indies , 
The  public  have  been  fufficiently  tired  with  harp- 
ing upon  Jay's  treaty ;  but  the  bufinefs  of  com- 
penfation  ftands  at  prefent  as  follows.  Providing 
that  American  merchants  recover  their  damages 
in  a  Britifh  court  of  admiralty,  they  are  not  to 
receive  immediate  payment.  The  Britifh  claims 
on  American  debtors  are  to  be  held  up  as  a  counter- 
jioife ;  and,  when  the  balance  fhall  be  ftruck  be- 
tween the  two  clafTcs  of  claims,  the  Britifh  expecl: 
and  fay,  that  feveral  millions  of  dollars  will  be 
found  in  their  favour.  This  extraordinary  mode 
of  compenfation  for  piracy,  was  related  by  a  perfon 
high  in  office  in  the  Britifh  fervice,  to  a  Senator  of 
the  prefent  Congrefs,  from  whom  the  account  is 
here  given. 

We  now  come  to  thequeftion,  -whether  Mr.  Jay 

broke  his  inftrudions,  f  A  few  literal  citations  from 

them  will  decide  this  point.     On  p.  176,  there  has 

already  been  quoted  a  paragraph  beginning  thus : 

c  but  if  a  treaty  of  commerce  cannot  be  formed  up- 

c  on  a  bafis  as  advantageous  as  this,  YOU  ARE  NOT 

:c  TO  CONCLUDE  OR  SIGN  ANY  SUCH,  it  being  con- 

'  ceivedj"  Sec.  The  whole  paragraph  is 


HISTORY   OF   THE 

confufed,  but  it  clearly  enjoins  a  prohibition  upon. 
Mr.  Jayof  (igniiivv  any  treaty,  unlefs  he  could  ob- 
tain an  agreement  to  tae  whole  of  his  own  terms, 
which  the  Executive,  as  above,  fays,  could  not  be 
expefad.  Thus  we  have  one  Hep. 

A  fubfequent  paflage  already  quoted,  has  thefo 
words:   "you    will  therefore    conflder  the  ideas 
;c  herein    exprelfcd,    as    amounting    to  rscommen* 
c  dations    only,    which    in    your    difcretion     you 
u  may  modify,  as  feenis  molt  beneficial  to  the  Uni-^ 
c  ted   States,  except  in  the  two  following   cafes, 
"  which  are  IMMUTABLE/' 

The  two  caics  are  above  inferted.  One  of  them 
is,  ci  that  no  tre  ity  of  commerce  be  concluded  or 
"  figned,  contrary  to  the  foregoing  prohibition." 
Thcie  are  the  doling  words  of  the  inllructions  ; 
and  hence  they  muft  be  regarded  as  explanatory 
of  what  goes  before  them.  The  preceding  prohi- 
bition can  only  allude  to  that  paiTage  where  Mr. 
Jay  is  forbidden  from  ilgning  a  treaty,  unlefs  he  ob- 
tained every  thing  on  his  own  conditions.  The 
intermediate,  reference  to  his  difcrstlon  is  inftant- 
ly  checked  by  the  prohibition  offigning.  The  cafe 
may  then  be  reduced  to  three  points. 

1.  Mr.  Jay  was  prohibited  from  figning  a  treaty 
ttnlefs-0«   certain  terms ,  that    were  not   within  the 
compafs  of  expectation. 

2.  Mr.  Jay  figned  a  treaty* 

3.  So  far  from  obtaining  the  terms  required,   he 
agreed   to  a  treaty   almoft   entirely  the  reverie  of 
them.     For  inftance,  Free  firips  to  make  free  goods 
is  inverted.     The   fecnrity  of  emigrant    manufac- 

ti  is  unnoticed.     No    adntimdTi  is   obtained  to 

h  fifhing  grounds.     In  the  cafe  of  an  Indian 

wir,  we  have  no   reitriftion  of  military   fupplies 

from  Britain  to  the  fa v ages.     The  free  export  of 

amis  and  military  ftores  is  forbidden,  in  time   of 


UNITED    STATES.  i-€j- 

v\nr,  for  the  eighteenth  article  of  the  treaty  declares 
the'ii  contraband.  Thus,  out  of  the  eighteen  in- 
junctions above  quoted,  the  third,  fifth,  fixth,  ninth, 
and  iixteenth,  are  either  negiecled  or  con tra dialed  $ 
a  '  other  infractions,  of  an  inferior  nature,  may 
readily  be  found.  Bat,  palling  by  uich  trite  mate- 
rials, we  proceed  at  once  to  the  two  capital  points 
ftffecurity  to  American  commerce  and  df  avoidirig  all 
cznf's  ofoifjn ce  to  Franc?.  As  to  the  firft,  the  Bri- 
ti:li  continue  at  this  day  (June  ipth,  1797)  td  plun- 
der, though  two  years  ai;d  Icvea  months  have  pad 
over  fmce  Mr.  Jay  iigned  his  treaty.  With  regard 
to  the  fccond,  the  French  were,  from  the  firit, 
highly  andreifonably  ex.uperated  at  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty,  and  a  war  with  that  republic  is  like- 
ly to  be  the  confequence. 

Thus,  in  all  their  material  parts,  Mrt  Jay  vio- 
lated his  powers.  We  afked  for  a  fiQi,  and  he  gave 
us  a  ferpent.  It  has  been  v/hifpered  that  a  fecond 
let  of  inflruAions  were  tranfniitted  to  our  envoy. 
Tney  were  never  laid  before  the  Senate,  and  it  fol- 
lows, that,  if  they  really  exifced,  which  is  extreme- 
ly doubtf -il,  the  Senate  knew  nothing  about  them. 
They  can  form  no  part  of  our  envoy's  vindication, 
unleis  he  ihall  chtife  to  produce  them. 

The  tenth  article,  as  to  the  injullice  and  impolicy 
of  fequcftrating  Britifh  debts,  was  written,  as  it  now 
flanas,  by  Mr.  Jay.  This  evinces,  if  evidence 
were  wanting,  that  the  whole  affair  was  an  inflru- 
ment  of  party. 

We  have  now  afcertained  that  Mr.  Jay  trefpa£- 
fed  his  orders.  The  next  qucftion  is,  by  what  mo- 
tives he  could  be  induced  to  do  fo  ?  In  this  coun- 
try it  has-been  the  cuftoni  to  hold  up  Americans  as 
a  race  of  fuperior  beings,  and  from  that  theory  the 
re  fait  is,  that,  forGrenville  to  purchafe  our  federal 
envoy.,  was  impracticable.  But  the  tenth  article  of 

B  b 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE 

the  treaty,  by  an  exprefs  implication,  arraigns  Mr. 
Dayton  and  a  confiderable  party  in  Congrefs,  as  me- 
ditating an  aft  of  injuftice.  Camillas  alfo*,  in  all 
the  plenitude  of  his  eloquence,  can  find  no  powers  of 
language  equal  to  the  bafenels  of  the  Batonian  pro* 
je«a. 

From  thefe  eftimates  of  American  purity,  every 
man  will  make  what  inference  he  thinks  fit,  as  to 
the  probable  fale  of  our  treaty.  Speaking  of  this 
country,  Thomas  Paine  has  indeed  told  us  that 
tc  the  innocence  of  he?'  charat'ier,  that  won  the 
cc  hearts  of  all  nations  in  her  favour,  may,  a  thou- 
c<  fand  years  hence,  found  like  a  romance  ;  her 

'.'ble  virtue,  as  if  it  hjd  never  been!."     At 

the    date  of  only  ten   years,   from  writing  of  the 

nee,  the  talc  founds  not  like  a  romance, 

ire,  out  very  like  an  untruth.  It  forms  a 
part  of  tiiat  empty  blabbing  of  national  vanity, 
which  has  been  remarked  among  every  race  of 
mankind,  from  Greenland  to  Cape  Horn.  With- 
out launching  into  the  ocean  of  the  revolutionary 
virtue  of  the  United  States,  let  us  hear  what  the 
Aflembly  of  Georgia  have  to  fay  about  its  Ctustion, 
in  1796.  The  picture  makes  an  intereilingpart  of 
the  hiflory  of  that  year. 

«  GEORGIA, 

cc  BURKE  COUNTY,  i6th  of  January,  1796. 
"  Clement  La'ii--:r,  efq.  o;ie  of  the  R^pref-ntatives  in  the  le- 
sc  Tifl^ture  of  this  ilate,  who,  bt-inor  duly  fworn,  on  trie  holy 
"  j v a nge  1  i  0  '•  of  t'< ie  Al  «r- i  g ! .t y  G od,  depofeth  and  fays,  that,  d u- 
"  ring  the  lad  filler,  o;  tS  '•>  legiflatureof  Augufta,  in  the  win- 
a  tt-r  of  the  yr.  r  1705,  he  being  a  m-mber  of  the  Houfe  of 
"  Reprefentatjyes,  and  fitting  on  the  fame  feat  with  Henry 
c;  Grinoat,  another  of  the  memb?rs  of  that  houfe,  before  the 
"  fpeaker  took,  the  chair,  the  faivl  Grindat  recommended  to  him 
"  to  be  in  favour  of  the  fale  of  the  wsftern  lands ;  for  that  he, 

*  Supra,  chap.  IV.  t  Paine  to  Waihington,  p.  8. 


UNITED    STATES.  187 

"  the  faid  Grindat,  uriderftood  it  was  worthy  our  notice  ;  for 
"Mr.    Thomas    Wylly,  a  fcnator  from   EiHi  irity, 

:<  had  told  the  faid  Grindat,  that  he,  the-  faid  WylTy,  ccul'J  have 
"  eight  cr  ten  negroes  for  his  part :  and  the  deponent  ftjrtfo 
<£  faith,  that,  on  the  fame  day,  in  the  afternoon,  ti  e  fai 
u  Wylly,  came  into  the  lobby  of  the  houf  , 
"  the  deponent,   who  followed  him  out,   when  r  f  tipn 

<c  commenced  about  the  Tazoo  aft  ;  tfe  :,  at  tfc  farr.e  time,  a 
u  Mr^Denifon  came  by,  and  afked  wl  it  we  were  iurn  Tfe 
"  ilia  Wylly  anfwered,  the  land  bua^is  ;  the  laid  D?:\£-r* 
u  then  came  up,  and  Wylly  withdrew  ;  that  D.-.iifon  then  told 
"  the  deponent,  that  he  did  not  pretend  toadvife  any  member 
"  to  be  in  favour  of  felling  the  land,  but  that  thofe  who  were 
"  in  favour  of  felling  it,  Were  hanuj-m;ly  provided  for^  and  that 
"  if  the  deponent  thought  proper  to  be  in  favour  of  felling,  that 
"  hejhould  have  part ;  and  that  the  faid  Denifon  faid,  that  he 
;t  was  a  purchafer  of  fuch  of  the  member's  parts,  as  had  a  mind 
"  to  fell,  but  underftood  that  fome  of  the  members  pretended 
"  to  afk  eight  and  ten  negroes  for  a  fhare,  or  their  (hares ;  he  faid 
:t  he  could  not  give  fo  much,  but  the  deponent  might  depend  he 
"  would  purchafe  :  the  deponent  further  faith,  that,  previous  to 
"  any  of  the  before  recited  ci  re  urn  fiances,  Mr.  William  Long- 
uftreer,  one  of  the  members  of  the  faid  legiflature,  frequently 
"  called  on  the  deponent,  and  afked  why  he  was  not  in  favour 
"  of  felling  the  weftern  lands,  who  anfwered,  he  did  not  think  it 
"  right  to  fell  to  companies  of  fpeculators.  The  deponent  at 
11  this  time,  wifhed  to  make  further  dilcovery  of  the  conduft  of 
*c  the  members  on  that  fale,  and  therefore  arTlcled  to  be  ijiclined 
f  l  to  come  into  the  meafure,  and,  by  that  means  kept  up  a  conver- 
ct  fation  about  it  occafionally ;  that  on  the  day  the  bill  recoi  ved  its 
1  firft  reading,  before  the  houfc?  convened,  faid  Lonstfreet  fpoke 
|c  to  the  deponent  to  get  his  approbation  to  ihe  fale.  The  deponent 
"  afked  him  to  ihew  him  what  fecurity  the  members  had  of 
the  purchafe,  when  the  faid  Longftreet  prefented  a  certificate, 
entitling  the  bearer  to  two  fliares,  of  twenty-five  thoufand 
"  acres  each,  figned  by  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  chairman.  The 
"  deponent  then  told  ihe  faid  Lo:igftreet,  that  that  was  not 
;  what  he  bad  formerly  told  him  was  a  member's' fhare ;  for 
the  faid  Longftreet  had  before  faid,  a  member's  /hare  was 
Jevcnty-five  thrufand  acres.  That  the-  faid  Longftreet,  then 
told  the  deponent,  if  he  would  wait  a  fcw  minutes,  or  an 
hour,  he  would  bring  him  another  certificate  from 
for  the  fame  number  of  acres,  That  the 


183  HISTORY    OF   THE 

"  in  order  (jo  difengr-  Iflrom  the  converfation,  then  fa i; I 

<l  the  f-  v  in  i i.  v  WHS  not  »n fEck  ut  to  enti .  land.  That 

fai-i  Lond*  v    .  at  if  he  was  not 

1    i        lied  wnh  thi  (  :,  he  would  give  bin  one  tboufand 

<|L  dollars  for  ir,  or  for  them.    The  (Lpojicut  men  pn 
"  cu-fcficatcn  to  the  laid   Longftreet,  and  went  into  the  houfe» 
"  which  was  the  hit  interview  h  •  had  o\  the  fubjv6t.   The  de- 
"  ponent  further  fiiih,  thnt  the  {hares  ofixp-u  hiiii  as  aforefaid, 
4<  were  exprefsly  deigned  to  induce  him,  the  deponent,  to  vote 
(c  far  the  bill  for  difpoling  ol'the  v/ciL'rn  t.:rritory. 
"(Signed,) 

"CLEM.   LANIFR. 

(i  ,v. \v-ni  in  the  prefence  of  the  committee  of  the  Houfe  of 
a  Reprefentatives,  bcibr:.:  m>-, 

«  THOMAS  LEWIS,  J.  P." 

The  above  dcpoiition  is  one  of  thofe  publi/lied 

by  the    legiilature  of  Georgia,  rcfpCLcring  the  Ya- 

zoo  buiineis.     It  was  happy  for  America,  that,  in 

June,    i?9?S  the.terrelh'ial  ipeculations  of  general 

Gunn  did  not   prevent  his  attendance  at  Fhilaclel- 

as  a  fenator.     An  abfence  fo  fatal  would  have 

deprived  this  continent  of  the  Britifh   treaty,  for 

which  he  voted;  of  that  maritime  iecurity  which 

conftitittes  the  pride  of  the   feaman,  and  of 

compenfation,  injpeae^  which  now  cracks  the 

•;rs  ol  the  merchant*  ! 

*  Even  if  the  Hritiih  government  could  preferve  its  exigence,  this 

npenfdtioh  woul-j  be  a  very  remote  ohjedt.    It  is  amtifing 

•:i  i'?M'j  that,  after  a  peace  with  the  emperor,  Brifain 

will  Itill  maintain  her  fupremacy  at  fra.     France,  in  the  firit  placet 

her  manufactures  from  every  country  in  Europe,  Ruf- 

r-,    cxceptcd.     This  cuts  ofF  three-fourths,,    at  leafi,    of 

',    ». i.i  nne-hali-'  of   her   revenue.     Second,  other 

obje«!;ls  U.ei!>£  cut  ot  the  ^.-ay,  Prance  will  turn  her  chief  attention 

to  her  navy,  which,  in  a  fliort  ti  r>e,  may  rival  th:ir  of  England,  as 

it   nearly  did  in  the  laii  war.     Third,  the  expldion  of  paper  me- 

iiey,  find  the  icdudion  of  revenue,  w  fil  foou  ilifiible  England  from 

inaintaihing  ;i  navy,  cqu.i-  ••:  (upporrs  at  preient.      Fourth, 

France*    h;v-.,  i-i  r.vp.^s,  ten   or   twelve  hundred  .r'opufand    men.     A 

•       ^  :.:il  d(Kiiains.  IVIa- 

upcn  canals  ?nd  other  public  works.     Butj  for 


UNITED    STATES.  189 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Britiffi  depredations  continued. — 'Mcrrcw/U 
uefs. —  "The  trig  Fame.  —  Thejchooncr  jlti 
Jofnua  fy'hitinv. — The  brig  Columbia. — Thefioop 
Dove. — The  May  /' lower. — The  Eliza. — Iv.-arder 
of  captain  Boflon. — S/////T  Excije. — Memoirs  cf 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  late  Secretary  of  the 
Trcajnry. — his  firnniiur  mode  of  correjpondence 
with  certain  pcrjons. — Remarks  en  his  conncciion 
TV it/i  Reynolds. 

r  |  ^O  commence  this  chapter,  a  few  additions! 
JL  fpecimens  of  Britith  amity  are  inferted.  A 
letter  from  captain  Thorndike  Belaud,  dated  King* 
lion,  lit  of  April,  1796,  to  a  merchant  in  Phila- 
delphia, contains,  for  publication,  a  lilt  of  twelve 
American  vef'f.ls  taken  and  carried  into  that  port* 
Captain  Deland  farther  fays,  that  he  had  heard  of 

the  internal  tranquility  of  the  republic,  myriads  muft  he  difcharged 
upon  fome  toreign  enterprife.  England  will  moil  likely  be  the 
fcene  ef  adion,  and  a  lefler  effort  than  that  which  conquered  Flan- 
ders, would  convert  her  into  a  French  province.  Though  the  fe- 
deral party  in  Congrcfs  cannot  fee 'the  danger  of  this  event,  yet  Ar- 
thur Young,  and  Edmund  Burke,  perceive  it  very  diftinclly. 

As  the  friends  of 'order  arc  conilantiy  talking  of  French  ambition, 
and  its  effects,  let  them  refcd  the  following  account  of  the  emperor. 
It  is  here  copied  f;om  a  London  newfpaper,  of  March  23,  1796. 

'*  The  Aullrian  (hare  of  the  new  partition  of  Poland  includes  four 
*'  thoufand  four  hundred  and  fifteen  fqu  a  re  miles  of  territory,  tuo 
<*  hundred  andfeven  towns,  four  thoufand  fix  hundred  and  five  vil- 
'«  lages,  and  one  million  one  hundred  and  fix  thoufand  one  hundred 
"  aRd'feventy-eight  fouls."  The  miles  muft  he  of  fome  German, 
ftandard,  othenvife  this  part  of  Poland  would  be  twice  as  populous* 
to  its  extent,  as  Yorklhire.  What  mail  \vc  think  of  this  imperial 
ufurper  enflaving,  at  one  ilrrUt?,  eleven  hundred  thoufand  dcfence- 
lefspeoph?  With  fuch  fads  beforcr  us,  it  is  foolery  to  fpcak  of  ja- 
cobin ckvredadons.  ri'his  is  one  ofthofo  crowned  robber?,  into 
<>  alliance  th?  r^dcrsl  politicians  with  tc  precipitate  Amcrici.' 


19$  HISTORY    OF    THE 

twenty-fevcn  other  (hips  at  Tortola,  which  were 
in  jeopardy.  He  informs,  that  all  Americans, 
w.ien  carried  into  Kingfion,  were,  after  examina- 
tion, turned  afhore,  without  provifion  for  their 
fupport.  Any  one  having  concern  in  a  houfe,  or 
having  even  a  factor  at  St.  Domingo,  or  any  French 
port,  was  deemed  a  Frenchman,  and  his  property 
was,  on  that  account,  condemned.  On  the  2ift 
of  April,  1796,  rhe  fchconer  William  and  Mary, 
captain  Shaw,  arrived  at  Portfmourh,  New  Kamp- 
ihire,  in  thirty-eight  days  from  Kingfton.  \\  hen 
he  left  that  place,  the  i  prefTment  of  American 
ieamen  had  not  iabfldec  On  the  jth  of  May,  the 
fchoancr  Mermaid,  captain  Tahei:,  arrived  from 
the  Mole,  at  New- York.  His  mate,  a  native  Ame- 
rican, was  pre{f*d  by  the  -iegulus.  Several  other 
Americans  were,  at  the  fame  time,  prefTcd  from 
different  veilels.  The  Merm&id  had  failed  from 
New- York,  with  a  load  of  timber,  on  account  of 
the  Britifh  government. 

The  Minerva,  of  the  igth  of  April,  cxprefTcs 
furprife,  that,  if  #11  the  accounts  of  imprclFments 
were  true,  they  had  little  or  no  efFeta  in  deterring 
American  feamen  from  entering  into  the  ferr.  ?.ce. 
a  In  a  full,  public  meeting  of  merchants,  in  this 
u  city,  lafl  week,"  fays  Webfter,  ct  the  quefdon 
f<  was  aflied,  whether  the  Britifh  inipreJTments  had 
ic  operated  to  difcourage  feamen  from  entering  m- 
u  to  fervicc?  The  reply  was,  ti.at  no  il»ch  effecl: 
u  had  been  perceived. — If  feamen  do  not  com- 
"  plain,  how  happens  it  {that}  printers  take  up 
<c  their  caufc  with  Jo  much  z?al  f"  Seamen  do 
complain,  of  which  the  numerous  details  in  this 
volume,  and  which  are  iiol,  perhaps,  ;;  twentieth 
part  of  the  whole,  compofe  an  ample  atteftation. 
But  a  common  feamen  has  more  difficulty  in  chang- 
ing his  profeifion,  than  ahnolt  any  other  perfon* 


UNITED  STATES, 

This  explains  the  general  adherence  to  it,  even  in 
fpite  of  ErlciOi  crimping.  Webfler  is  angry  at 
printers  for  taking  up  the  caufe  of  icamen  with  Jo 
much  zeal.  But,  if  they  are  not  to  be  defended 
with  ardour,  upon  what  poirt  fhoulci  zeal  be  ex- 
cited? If  circumtlapces  require  it,  the  prcflcs  of 
America  will  continue  to  remonftratc  againit  inch 
wrongs,  when  the  bones  of  Vv  ebileril.  all  be  as  rotten 
as  his  heart.  As  to  the  query^afted  intheinercantile 
meeting,  the  members  would  have  gained  rr  ore  cre- 
dit by  fubfcribing  to  form  a  fund  for  the  relief  offuch 
feamen,  or  the  families  of  fuch  feamen,  as  might  be 
imprefied  while  in  their  fervice.  This  would  have 
been  afting  like  men .  It  would  have  been  acting  like 
ENGLISHMEN  ;  for,  at  London  or  Liverpool,  a  pro- 
pofalof  that  kind  would,  under  a  {Imilar  fituation, 
have  been  adopted.  But,  in  the  United  States,  it  feems 
that,  if  a  merchant  can  only  favc  himfelf,  he  is  per- 
feclly  indifferent,  what  becomes  of  the  people  in 
his  iervice. 

A  Charlei'lon  newfpaper,  of  the  8th  of  April, 
1796,  contains  the  copy  of  a  fentencepa(Ted  by  judge 
Green,  of  Bermuda.  It  is  dated  the  6th  of  Janu- 
ary preceding,  and  refpecled  the  brig  Fame.  In 
fammcr,  1795,  tnc  Fame  failed  from  Charleston, 
for  Bonrdcaux.  On  her  return  (lie  was  captured 
and  taken  into  Bermuda.  The  VefTel  and  cargo 
were  both  American  property.  But  one  of  the 
owners,  who  went  along  with  her,  had  (laid  be- 
hind in  France,  to  difpofe  of  fome  remaining 
part  of  her  cargo.  .  This  accident,  in  the  eyes  of 
Green,  transformed  him  into  a  French  citizen, 
and,  on  that  pretence,  both  (hip  and  loading  were 
confifcated.  Thus  theBritifh  went  OB  in  the  Weft- 
Indies,  while  Mr.  Bayard  was  tranfmittingto  Phila- 
delphia his  important  afTurances  about  indemnifica- 
tion, and  the  refentment  of  the  London  court  of  Ad-- 
Tniral<y  at  the  decrees  of  Green, 


192  HISTORY  OF  THE 

Header !  unleis  you  are  aBritifh  tory,  or  theBritiih 
editor  of  the  Columbian  Centinel,  or  Harriion  Gray 
Otis,  or  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  or  fonie  other  cu- 
riofity  of  their  caft,  who  is  fitter  for  a  work-houfe 
than  a  ftate-houic*,  you  muft  revere  the  magnani- 
mity of  Preudent  VVafliington,  who,  in  his  lafl 
ipeccii  to  Congrefs,  diidaincd  all  i^otice  of  thefe 
Briiifli  pecadiloes. 

About  the  23d  of  April,  Captain  Mercer,  of  the 
fio;>p  A-nnuicade,  arrived  in  this  port  from  Bermu- 
da. He  brought  a  lift  of  eight  American  vefTels 
with  their  cargoes  which  were  condemned  s.t  that 
place  ;  and  of  fevcn  others  which  were  libelled. 
One  of  the  latter  was  a  brig  from  Bofton.  Captain 
Mercer  had  heard  that  her  captain  had  died  of 

*  During  the  prefcnt  feffion  the  foeaker  has  (ignified  in  the  houfe, 
that  Harper fpokc  like  a  MADMAN.  ThisjulUfies  tbc  text,  'i  :;e 
following  traits  will  help  to  conjecture  in  what  way  ccn^reffional  bu- 
fmefs  hath  fometimes  been  conducted. 

Previous  to  the  election  of  a  clerk  for  the  Rcprefentatives,  in  the 
prefcnt  Congrcfs,  (Supra,  chap.  3d,)  Dr.  Smith  convened  his  party 
without  doors,  and  they  agreed  in -the  nomination  of  a  candidate  to 
!r.  Becklcy.  Next  morning  the  votes  were  tak^n  by  ballot. 
The  republican  me  nb^rs  hal  each  to  write  the  name  of  their 
candidate;  but  the  friends  of  r.rder  pulled  theirs  ready  written  out 
of  their  pockets.  As  great  part  of  them  could  know  nothing  of  Mr. 
Beckle)  bur  by  name,  this  promptitude  (he-vs  the  exaclnefs  of  their 
difcipJiiK1,  and  what  praife  is  due  to  the  diligence  of  our  legiflativc 
Martinet. 

In  t!u*  Senate,  matters  proceed  ftill  more  ftraightly.  For  inftance, 
a  fe^'  v\  cei:s  -igo,  five  re(l>lutions  were  moved  in  that  bod  ,  and  it 
\xr,°.s  agreed  to  ballot,  next  day,  for  committees  upon  each  of  them. 
The  federal  majority  confided  of  feventeen  ;  and  4o  nicely  had  mat- 
ters h?en  afcertained  without  doors,  that  the  five  commitrees,  h:-»viMg 
rat-h  three  members,  were  clecled  e*clufively  out  of  the  fevenfeen. 
The  r.iiiiority  have  no  (hare  of  influence  whatever.  They  arc 
I  even  from  the  appearance  of  it* 

Compare  this  plain  account  with  the  plaifter  which  Mr.  Adnms 
laid  upon  the  Senate  in  his  late  farewell  addrrfs.  It  might  be  con- 
deafed  into  a  few  words.  Qeutlemert)yiu  are  the  greatejl  Irgijlaiors 
in  tk?  ivyrlJ. — l\o  fir*  YOU  art  ikj  ort-atcft)  and  ewe  avf  confident  the* 
jsx  will  make  us  all judgfi  or  embffffadorS)  at  early  as  foffible* 


UNITED  STATES.  193 

abufe  which  he  received  from  the  prize-in  after.  A 
paragraph  of  the  fame  date  fays,  that,  at  Nevis,  the 
fchooner  Andrew,  captain  Montayne,  of  Philadel- 
phia, had  her  mate  and  feamen  preffed  by  a  Britifh 
fcbooncr.  They  were  all  Americans  ;  and  had  pro*< 
teclions.  The  particulars  are  related  in  the  cap- 
tain's proteft,  astranfmitted  to  his  owner. 

Thefe  maritime  anecdotes  are  valuable,  as  fhe^  - 
ing  the  character  of  that  people,  who,  in  the  midfl 
of  iuch  injuries,  could  wifli  to  appropriate  for  Jay's 
treaty.  It  would  be  vain  to  look  in  the  hiftory 
of  England,  for  any  meal u res  fo  deplorably  defpica- 
ble.  To  proceed  in  a  regular  fucceflion,  to  the 
end  of  the  year  1796,  would  occupy  a  large  vo- 
lume. At  prefent,  only  three  or  four  incidents  of 
this  kind  fhall  be  added,  as  they  come  to  hand  in 
the  order  of  time. 

Jolhua  Whiting  was  a  feamen  on  board  of  the 
American  brig  Samuel.  At  Port-au-Prince,  he, 
and  four  others  of  the  crew,  were  prefTed  by  a  Bri- 
tifh frigate.  Three  of  them,  after  eleven  clays, 
efcaped  by  fvvirnming,  in  the  courfe  of  which,  one 
man  had  the  calf  of  his  leg  bitten  off  by  a  (hark, 
Another  of  them  was  retaken,  received  four  dozen 
of  lafhes,  and  was  put  in  irons.  Whiting  and 
the  cripple,  efcaped,  after  lofing  their  whole  ad- 
venture, befides  being  cruelly  treated.  In  the 
Boflon  Chronicle,  of  the  i8th  of  April,  Whiting 
published  a  narrative,  of  which  the  above  is  the 
fubftance.  Inftead  of  voting  money  for  the  treaty, 
Congrcfs  might  as  well  have  voted  fome  relief  to 
the  poor  man  who  loft  the  calf  of  his  leg,  under 
that  emblem  of  abafement,  that  contempt  of  na- 
tions, that  nautical  DETERSORIUM,  the  American 
flag! 

The  brig  Columbia,  and  the  fchooner  Unity, 
both  of  Newburyport?  failed  from  Port  Lewis,  on 

Cc 


j54'  HISTORY  OF  THE 

the  7th  of  March,  1796.  Next  day,  they  were 
brought  to  by  the  Ganges,  a  Britiih  feventy-four, 
and  a  fchooner  attendant  to  the  fliip.  "  This 
ct  Fchaoner,"  fays  the  account,  "  is  one  of  the  f if- 

c  teen  pilot  boats  built  in  Virginia,  not  long  fince, 
cc  \vhich  are  all  employed  as  attendants  totheEri- 
u  ti-h  men  of  war/'  They  were  fent  into  Mont- 
ferrajt,  examined,  and  on  the  I4tli,  diirnifTed,  upon 
paying  forty-four  pounds,  four  {hillings,  and  ten 
pe'i:  :e,  as  the  expence  of  their  examination. 

••- ;p  Dove,  of  Newhaven,  in  Conne  cli- 
me on  a  voyape  to  the  -Weft-Indies, 
;c  lying  at  A  Jtigiia,  ihe  was  boarded  by  a 
Boat's  crew  from  the  NarcifTas,  who  took  away 
Bciij .:•.•!•  in  Kaltman.  He  was  a  native  American, 
and  asi'hch,  hada  proteftion.  On  the  3d  of  April, 
1796,  the  in  after  and  mate  of  the  Dove  made  oath 
to  this  faft,  at  Newhaven.  fames  Smith,  mailer 
of  the  Pvlay  Flower,  of  Norfolk,  publifhed  a  de- 
claration, dated  the  3d  of  March,  1796.  One  of 
his  men,  an  American,  was  impreffed  at  Port  Je- 
yerni",  by  the  Rcgulus.  Captain  Smith,  himfelf, 
was  kept,  for  three  cUys,  a  prifoner,  on  board  of 
the  fno.ate,  and  half  ftarved.  He  left  about  thirty 
or  forty  American  failors  in  her.  Almoft  the  whole 
of  them  had  protections,  and  he  faw  fomc  of  them 
fe\  rely  punifhed  for  attempting  to  efcape.  The 
ne-vfpapers  containing  thele  mifcrable  details,  are 
,  :ied  with  exulting  encomiums  on  the  number 
of  petitioners  to  Congrefs,  in  favour  of  the  feritifli 
treaty. 

On  Tuelclay,  the  gift  of  May,  I796^  the  Spea- 
ker of  the  Ho-jfe  of  Repreientatives,  laid  before 
the:;!,  a  letter 'from  ten  American  captains,  whofe 
vedels  we  re  then  lying  at  Jamaica.  Their  feamen 
were  on  board  of  Britifh  fliips  of  war,  where  they 
were  treated  like  flavcs.  They  faid  that  their 


UNITED    STATES. 

brethern  at  Algiers  were  not  greater  objects  of  fy-ii- 
pathy.  Thefe  ten  captains  miy/lit  aa  well  have  ad- 
dreifed  a  memorial,  on  the  fame  iubjeel,  to  any 
old  woman,  in  any  chimney  corner,  on  the  conti- 
nent. Congrefs  have  no  Beet,  and  they  can  ;  a  u- 
ly  raife  money  to  pay  the  nation;*!  debt.  I  : 
unparalleled  ft  ate  of  pro  f verity  ^  what  would  you 
have  us  to  do  ? 

The  Aurora,  of  Jane  2cl,  1796.  contained  a  long 
account  of  the  capture  of  the  Eiiz;*,  a  vefFel,  Ame- 
rican property,  by  the  Briii'h.  She  failed  from 
New-York,  for  St.  Thomas's,  and  had  orders  to 
touch  at  St.  Bartholomew's.  She  was  taken  by 
captain  Cochran,  of  the  Thetis  frigate.  The  iuper- 
cargo,  a  Darifh  iubjeft,  was  dripped  to  the  fkin.  I  he 
fhip  was  libelled  before  the  Vice-Ad*  ,,iralty  Court 
at  Bermuda,  under  pretence  of  being  French  proper- 
ty. The  trunks  of  the  fupercargo  were  fealec  up, 
and  he  was  himfelf  thrown  pennylefs  out  of  the 
fliip,  without  a  fecond  fhirt  to  his  back.  The  cap- 
tain and  crew  were  put  on  more,  ddditute  otfub-- 
fiftence.  Six  or  (even  days  after  the  Pup  arid  car- 
go had  been  libelled,  the  cattle  were  fold  at  half 
their  prime  coft,  bought  in  by  the  agents  who  Ibid 
them,  and  fold  a  fecond  time,  next  day,  at  a  con- 
fiderable  profit. 

A  Boiton  newfpaper,  of  the  26' h  of  May,  con- 
tains a  depofition,  elated  at  St.  George's,  the  27th 
of  April,  preceding-.  It  was  emitted  by  the  fecond 
mate  of  the  brigantine  Polly,  John  EoiTon,  late 
niafter.  The  vefJH  was  on  her  way  from  Dema- 
rara,  to  Bo;l:on,  when  the  Cleopatra,  a  Britifh  pri- 
vateer, took  her.  Soon  after,  the  prize-in  after 
quarrelled  with  captain  Boffon,  and  wantonly  beat 
him  in  a  mod  fhocking  manner.  This  is  the  fub- . 
fiance  of  the  depofition.  Within  fix  days  after, 
captain  Boffon  died  of  his  bruifes.  He  was  only 
in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


6  HISTORY  OF   THE 

Such  was  the  picture  of  national  independence 
dignity  that  America,  during  1796,  exhibited 
by  fea.  At  fome  future  opportunity  the  narrative 
w'll,  perhaps,  be  relumed  and  com pleted.  In 
the  mean  time,  thefe  inflances  may  be  compared, 
by  an  impartial  citizen,  with  the  cenfure  bellowed 
by  Barras,  on  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
Me  can  then  attempt  to  decide,  wether  Mr.  Wafh- 
ington  had,  laflr  year,  greater  caufe  to  complain 
of  England,  or  Mr.  Adams,  in  the  piefent  year,  of 
France.  We  fhall  now  proceed  to  examine  Ibme 
federal  tranfactions  by  land.  In  a  work  embracing 
fuch  various  objects,  many  points  of  importance 
are  fare  of  being  omitted.  Still,  however,  even 
an  imperfect  hiitory,  if  candid  and  accurate,  is 
better  than  none.  The  facility  acquired  by  expe- 
rience, and  the  refources  derived  from  public  pa- 
tronage, may,  hereafter,  furnifh  means  for  produ- 
cing a  more  regular,  and  lefs  defective,  perform- 
ance. 

Among  the  memorials  prefented  to  Congrefs,  in 
fpring,  1796,  perhaps  none  deferved  more  atten- 
tion, than  that  01  the  fnufF-makers  of  this  city,  re~ 
fpewHng  the  cxcife  on  their  manufacture.  On  the 
5th  of  Jane,  1794,  an  atCt  ka^  Pa^  in  Congrefs,  for 
levying  a  duty  of  fix  cents  per  pound,  upon  all 
fnuff,  maufactured  in  the  United  States.  As  this 
law  did  not  anfwer  the  end  propofed,  it  was  re- 
pealed,  and,  on  the  gd  of  March,  1795,  another 
was  enacted  in  its  room.  By  the  latter,  two  thou- 
fancl  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars  were  to  be 
paid  for  every  fnuff-mill,  with  (tampers  and  grind- 
ers, and  ihms  proportinably  lefs,  for  thofe  of  in- 
ferior effect.  As  a  relief  to  the  fnufF-maker,  he 
received  a  drawback  of  fix  cents  upon  every  pound 
of  fnuff,  exported  out  of  the  country.  The  firft 
'of  thefe  two  laws  originated  with  Mr.  Alexander 


UNITED  STATES.  I97 

Hamilton,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treafury.  Both 
of  them  met  with  warm  oppoiition  in  Congrefs, 
Both  were,  in  an  eminent  degree,  abfurd,  oppref- 
live,  andimpradicable.  Both  deferve  to  be  held 
in  remembrance,  as  proofs  of  what  mocking  de£- 
potlfra  the  legiilature,  even  of  a  free  country,  may 
poflibly  commit.  "I 'hey  were  faid  to  be  laws  of 
experiment,  by  thofe  who  were  ieaft  eager  in  their 
defence.  But  a  government  has  no  right,  of  ma- 
king experiments,  in  oppofition  to  probability,  on 
the  property  of  the  public.  The  memorial  was 
prefentedon  the  pth  of  February,  1796,  and  is  in 
thefe  words. 

"  To  the   Senate  and  Houfe  of  Representatives  of  tie  United 
<c  States  in  Congrefs  ajjembled  : 

"  The  memorial  of  the  fubfcribers,  manufacturers  of  (huff  in 
"  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 

cc  Refpeftfully  reprefents, 

<c  THAT  whilft  the  United  States  exhibit  an  univerfal  ap~ 
"pearance   of  public  profperity,  and  of  private  happinefs,  the 
"  memorialifts  feel  deep  regret  and  mortification  upon  their  <-e- 
"  ing  once  more  compelled  to  addrefs   you  in  the  folitary  Ian- 
«  guage  of  diffatisfaaion.     They  have  fometime  ago  entered 
"  into  aftruggle  tofupport  a  fecond  excife  law  upon  their  ma- 
"  nufadture.     Your  predecefTors,   the  late  Congrefs,  gave  a 
"  fair  trial  to  the  firft  aft,  which  attempted  to  levy  a  duty  on 
i  fnuffin  proportion  to  the  pound  weight.     This  law,  as  th<? 
c  honourable  Congrefs   well  knows,  operated  at  once  like  a 
"  ftroke  of  annihilation.     No  excife  could  be  paid,  at  leaft  in 
"  theftate  of  Pennfylvania;  for,  out  of  fevenfnuff-mills,  fix 
'   were  mftantly  fhut  up,  to  the  infinite  injury  of  the  manufac- 
turers.    Their  flock  lay  dead  on  their  hands.     Their  cuf. 
tomers  difperfed,  and  in  many  cafes  declined  to  pay  the  out- 
"  ftanding  debts,  becaufe  the  fubfcribers,  having  no  power  to 
c  manufacture  fnuff,  were  unable  to  give  them  further  credit* 
The  buildings  for  carrying   on  their  manufaaories,  ereaed 
"  at  an  expence  of  many  thoufand  dollars,  were  at  once  conver- 
Ci  ted  intofepulchres  of  American  induitry :  and,  in  the  vain  at- 


HISTORY  OF  THE 

cx  tempt  to  extract  a  revenue,  wh.Te  every  moral  and  phyfic^J 
"  circumfrance  rendered  it  impofiibie,  fix  months  of  birfinej* 
"and  of  human  life  were  loft.  Even  the  feventh  fnuff-milJ, 
ct  which  actually  was  entered,  never  paid  any  duty. 

u  E  very  feature  in  the  hiirory  of  this  firft  excife  upon  fnufF 
"jufttfied  the  energetic  prefuge  of  a  gentleman,  who  was  a 
<c  member  of  the  laft,  «md  is  one  in  the  prdVut  Moufe  of  Repre- 
cc  fcntatives  of  Cong'refs.  H,  declared  in  bi<  place  that  the  -..& 
Id  terminate  not  in  revenue,  but  deftru6tiOfl.  The  ac- 
"  cur:-cy  of  his  prediction  hath  been  verifi-d  by  experience,  aiid 
*(  fully  acknowledged  and  a-  tj(>ecl  on  the  floor  of  Gongrefs.  The 

*  effects  of  that  mcrnorabl .-   fbtut,-  were  p.  r'^psumi  vailed, 
c<  even  in  tht  tragical  and  externiinatirig  annai   ofcxcif..   L-ke 
Ci  a  p- ;.ftilcnce,  or  a  tc-mptft,  this  lav/  biafled  and   fvvept  before- 
c<  it  every  bloflbm  of  induflry,  ano  had  your  men:ot iaiifts  re- 
^  r.aineci  ev,.r   fince  entirely  unr-.'.-.l-ftcd  by  exciL    law^,  yet 
"  f  me  y-ars  of  good  fortune  would  nave  been  rcquit:te  for  en- 
"  abling  them  to  recover  thi:  r          ,  had  loft. 

"  That, with  the  deepcft  au;  memorialiffs  have, 

a  during  the  prefent  feilien,  heard  t"  feveraj  petitions  prefvinted 
<c  to  Congrefs,  chiefly  as  they  believe  from  fnufF-makers  in 
c"e  the  eaftern  ftates,  requefting  the  repeal  of  the  prefent  excife, 

*  in  order  to  replace  it  by  the  former  law  for  levying  the  duty 
"  by  the  pound  weight.     Thefc  petitioners  have  indeed  honeft- 
<€  ly  represented  many  infurmountable  objections  to  thepreft-nt 
<c  law,  and  which  your  memonalifts  admit,  as  well  as  tkcy  do. 
tt  But  it  does  not  follov/,  that  the  prefent  extremely  opprcilive 
^  excifs  on  fnufF  ought  to  be  fuperccd-jd  for   the  fake  of  adop- 
*'•  ting  another  ftatute  which  is  infinitely  worfe,  and  which  has 
ic  already  been  tried  andcaft  afide  as   impracticable.  The  ruin- 
<<c  ous  effects  of  both  thefe  laws,  have  been  fully  frated  in  a 
u  (hort  hiftory  of  excife  lawsj  drawn  up  at  th^  deiire  and  un- 
*e  der  the  infpe6lion  of  a  number  of  manufacturers  in  Philadel- 
€t  phia,  and  of  which  a  printed  copy  has  lately  be.-n  tranfnitted 
ec  to  each  of  the  members  of  the   two  houfes  of  Congreis,  and 
M  to  the  principal  officers  of  thef .  d •::  i\  government. 

"  In  the  laft  a&  for  an  excif^  upon  fnufF,  a  drawback  of  fix 
"  cents  per  pound  has  been  allo  ,vcd  upon  the  exportation.  This 
cc  drawback  was  liable  to  various  abufes.  If  not  granted  at  all, 
w  fnufF  could  not  be  exported  after  paying  an  excife,  and  this 
ct  would  tend  to  deprefs  the  American  manuTa<Slurer.  But,  in 
<s  order  to  be  entitled  to  the  drawbacl^  it  -vvas  requifitc  toob- 
<f  uin  a  certificate  of  the  jfauff  having  been  duly  landed  at  the 


UNITED    STATES.  j^ 

^  dcftined  port :  the  chief  exportation  was  to  the  Britifh  Weft* 
><  Indies,  were  American  fnuff  is  contraband,  and  confequently 
"  it  was  quite  impoiTible  to  get  the  requifite  certificates.  But 
*c  farther,  nothing  could  be  more  eafy  than  to  make  a  preten- 
"ded  exportation  of  fnuff  to  fome  ifland  in  the  Weft-Indies, 
"  where  it  was  not  prohibited,  obtain  a  regular  certificate  of 
"  its  being  landed,  and  then  fmuggle  it  back  to  this  country, 
"  Thus  one  barrel  of  (huff,  might  receive  twenty  drawbacks, 
"  Such  frauds  art  prvcrifed  every  day  in  Britain.  Many  mer- 
"  chants  on  th-  riv-.r  Thames  fupport  their  families  in  fplendor 
<c  by  drawback^,  procured  from  their  government  for  irrai»U 
"  nary  exportation.  Your  memorial  ifts  have  been  ^ffured, 
"  that  OIK.'  bak*  of  niuflin,  fuppofeii  to  be  worth  five  hundred 
u  guineas,  received  in  this  way  a  drawback  of  twelve  and  an 
£  half  per  ce,.t  forty  times  over,  fo  that  this  bale  earned  two 
"  thoufand  five  hundred  guineas. 

6  Trafli  of  any  kind,  or  even  find,  might  be  exported  from 
"  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  fnuff  and  obtain  the  fix 
Ci  cents  per  pound  of  drawback.  Frauds  of  this  kind  could 
"  not  be  prevented  without  a  multiplicity  of  infpectors,  whofe 
<c  falaries  would  fwallow  up  the  revenue. 

"  That  the  eighty-fourth  and  ninety-third   feclions   of  the 

1  Britifh  tobacco  excife  acT:  of  1789,  fully  (hew,  to  what  length 

"  impoftures   of  this    fort   have  been   carried  in  that  country. 

The  former  of  thefe  two  claufes,  inflias  a  penalty  of  two 

*  hundred  pounds,  for    the  mixture  of  cut  walnut   leaves,  of 

"  hops,   of  fycamore,  or  any  other  leaves   or  herbs,  with  the 

"leaves  of    tobacco.     The    injurious   in   the  ninety-third 

:  fecl:ion,  againft  mixing  fnuff  with  other   materials,   are  ftili 

"  more  pointed.     The  penalty  of  two  hundred  pounds  is  Jevi- 

"  ed  for  mixing  with  fnuff,  any  fuftic,  yellow  honey,  touch- 

^cwood,  log- wood,  red   or  guinea   wood,  braziletto  or  JamaU 

"  ca  wood,    Nicaragua-wood,    Saunders-wood  or  any  other 

"  fort  of  woc>d,  or  any  walnut  tree  leaves,  hops,  fycamore,  or 

"  any  other  leaves  or  herbs.     This  fingular  enumeration  afcer- 

u  tains  how  far  fuch  practices  have  gone. 

<  That  there  is  another  material  objection  to  the  prefent  mode 

«  of  granting   a  drawback.     The  price    of  different   kinds  of 

<c  fnuff  differs-  very  confiderably,  and  yet  the  fame  drawback 

"  of  fix   cents  is  granted,  without  dirHnaion,  upon  all  kinds. 

J  Richard  Gernon  &  Co.  in  their  petition,  irate,  that  the  fnuff 

«  which  they  have  been  exporting  is  worth  ten  cents  per  pound, 

befiacs  the  fix  cents  of  drawback.     Thus  its  value,  after  pay-^ 


HISTORY    OF  THE 

"  ing  the  duty, would  be  about  one  (hilling  and  three  pence  pe$ 
"  pound.  The  memorialifts  are  now  felling  fnuff  at  two  (hil» 
<c  lings  and  fix  pence  and  three  fhillings  per  pound,  and  were 
<c  they  to  export  it,  a  drawback  of  at  leaft  twelve  cents  per 
w  pound  would  be  necefTary  to  put  them  on  a  level  with  Ger- 
"  non  &  Co.  who  receive  fix  cents  per  pound  drawback  on  an 
"  ariicle  not  half  fo  valuable. 

"  The  memorialifts,  in  their  publication  already  referred  to, 
K  ftated  the  poflibility  that  the  drawbacks  for  a  fingle  manufac- 
rniqht  amount  to  fixty  thoufand  dollars  per  annum,  and 
;:oz  M  fuch  Manufacturers  were  to  be  found  in  the  United 
cc  S  Ses,  that  they  would  drain  the  public  treafury  of  feven  hun- 
ind  twenty  thoufand  dollars  a  year,  a  fum  which  all  the  ex- 
"  ci&sin  the  COUP, try  could  not  cover.  To  the  great  aftonifhment 
"  of  the  memorial  ifts,  this  prediction  received  a  partial  fulfilment 
*c  almoit  a:  .he  inftant  when  it  was  made.  The  revenue  deri* 
the  mills,  entered  in  the  ftate  of  Pennfylvania  comes 
<c  only  to  eight  thoufand  three  hundred  and  eighty  dollars. 
"  On  the  26rh  January  laft,  the  drawbacks  at  the  port  of  Phi- 
<c  1  artel  phi  a,  fince  the  new  act  began  to  operate,  amounted  to 
"  eig'rit  thoufand  five  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars  and 
u  thirty-nine  cents,  which  is  already  one' hundred  and  forty- 
<c  three  dollars,  and  thirty-nine  cents,  more  than  the  total  re- 
<s  venue  for  this  ftate.  Almoft  the  whole  of  this  drawback 
"  has  been  paid  to  MefTrs.  Richard  Gernon  and  Co.  who  have 
<c  been  only  about  four  months  in  bufinefs,  and  within  that 
<c  period,  have  got  back  above  five  thoufand  dollars  additional, 
'c  befides  the  two  thoufand  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars, 
c<  which  they  paid,  according  to  law,  for  entering  their  mill. 
*'  It  is  not  thedefign  of  your  memorialifts  to  baft  the  flighted 
<£  reflection  on  the  conduct  of  this  manufacturing  company. 
**  On  the  contrary,  if  government  has  laid  itfelf  open  by  a 
1  law  which  defeats  its  own  purpofes,  and  fmks  a  revenue 
tc  where  it  expected  to  raife  one,  the  manufacturers  are  in  com- 
<c  mon  juftice, entitled,  to  takeevery  legal  advantage  of  fuch  an 
tc  overfight.  Nay,  they  beg  leave  to  ftate  it  as  a  matter  of  abfolutc 
<c  certainty,  that  if  this  law  is  not  repealed,  a  number  of  fnufF- 
<c  makers  will  immediately  enter  into  the  buftncfs  of  exportation. 
cc  They  only  forbear  altering  their  mills,  and  adapting  them  for 
tc  thebufinefs,  till  they  fee  whether  Congrefs  will  adhere  to  the 
ic  law  or  not ;  for  the  example  of  Richard  Gernon  and  Co/proves 
cc  how  eafily  a  fnufF-maker,  with  the  requifite  degree  of  capital 
^  and  enterprife,  nuay  take  from  the  public  treafury  in  the  fhapp 


UNITED    STATES.  201 

"  of  drawbacks  ten  times  as  much  as  he  pays  into  it.  Your 
4i  memorial! (Is  cannot  believe  that  Cbngneft.,  or  i  it  reed  any  le- 
"giflative  afTembly  on  earth,  would  fufrer  the  longer  existence 
**  of  a  law  fo  pregnant  with  the  moil  prepofterous  and  ruinous; 
c<  confequenqes.  A  few  weeks  ago,  Me  firs.  Gcrnon  &  Co. 
"  prefented  to  Congrefs  a  memorial ,'repreient ing  the  imm^hfe 
<c  cxpence  which  they  have  been  at  in  preparing  their  mill  to 
"  grind  muff  for  exportation.  Among  other  details,  they  ftate 
"  their  having,  in  the  fir  it  four  months  of  their  copartnery,  pur- 
"  chafed  four  hundred  and  thirty  hog (heads  of  tobacco,  and 
"  that  they  are  continuing  to  make  large  purchafes  of  this  kind. 
"  At  that  rate,  they  will,  in  the  courfe  of  twelve  months,  pur- 
"  chafe,  altogether,  twelve  hundred  and  ninety  hog(head>, 
<c  Your  memorialifts  eftimate,  that,  when  grinded  into  fnufF, 
"  the  drawback  on  this  quantity  will  amount  to  about  ninety 
"  thoufand  dollars.  The  company  will  thus  gain,  by  the  pub- 
u  lie  revenue,  eighty-eight  thousand  dollars,  the  drawback; 
<c  exceeding  the  revenue  in  the  proportion  of  forty-five  to  one, 
cc  This  is  a  circumstance  perfectly  novel  in  the  hiftory  of  tax- 
<c  ation. 

"  But  further,  if  this  affair  is  fuflered  to  <TO  on  in  its  prcv 
"  fen t  way,  Gongrefs  may  foon  expect  to  ies  twenty  other 
u  fnuiT-mills  working  on  the  fame  plan,  and  to  an  equal  ex- 
"  tent,  with  that  of  Gernon  &  Co. 

<c  If  the  government  of  this  country  intend,  ferioufly,  and 
u  ileadiiy,  to  give  a  drawback  of  fix  cents  per  pound  on  th,? 
u  exportation  of  American  fhufr*,  it  is  the  moit  acceptable  and 
<c  joyful  intelligence  that  your  memorlaliits  could  ever  hear  of. 
"  They  will  immediately  repair  their  mills,  extend  their  pur- 
ic  chafes,  and  they  have  not  a  doubt  of  clearing,  from  the  drav/~ 
*c  back,  before  the  end  of  a  year,  twenty  or  thirty  times  the 
"  fum  which  they  are  to  pay  into  the  treafury.  Twenty  ma~ 
""  nufacturers,  like  Gernon  &  Co.  would  each  of  them  thus 
<c  coft  government  ninety  thoufand  dollars,  or,  coHecH vel v, 
"  one  million  eight  hundred  thoufand  dollars  per  annum.  The 
"  original  object  of  the  lav/  was  faid  to  be  a  revenue  of  forty 
"  thoufand  dollars  ;  there  is  an  equal  chance,  that,  in  fcarch 
cc  of  it,  forty-five  times  that  fum  will  be  funk.  It  has  been 
<c  aboverrrentioned,  that  the  drawbacks,  within  this  (hire,  al~ 
<c  ready  exceed  the  revenue.  The  firft  year  of  this  law  qx- 
<c  pires  onthelaftday  of  March  next,  and,  before  that  time, 
"  there  will  moft  likely  be  a  balance  of  fbveral  thoufdnddollarfi 
(<  2gaiml  the  rever.'.r,  -\t  the  port  of  Philadelphia.  B.ut  if  ths 

D  d 


202  HISTORY    OF    THE 

"  law  ftands  unrepealed,  it  i£  probable  that  two  hundred  thou- 
U  fand  dollars  will  not  make  up  the  deficiencies  in  this  ftate 
"  alone,  for  the  next  fucceeding  year. 

"  In  their  hiftory  of  excife,  the  manufacturers  ftated  the  prin- 
4C  ciple,  that  all  taxes  ought  to  be  levied  in  proportion  to  the 
"  quantum  of  perfonal  property.  Since  their  publication  took 
"place,  they  have  feen  this  do^rine  juftified  by  an  authority 
"  of  the  higheft  nature.  The  new  conftitution  of  France,  in 
"  the  fixteenth  article  of  the  firft  fe6tion,  lays  it  down  as  a  fun- 
"  damental  maxim,  that,  "as  all  taxes  are  eftablifhed  for  the 
cc  general  good,  they  ought  to  be  apportioned  among  the  taxed 
"  in  the  ratio  of  their  means."  Under  the  head  of  finances,  al- 
"  fo,  in  the  fame  work,  it  is  declared,  cc  that  taxes  of  all  kinds 
"  are  aflefled  among  all  thofe  liable  to  contribution  according 
<c  to  their  means." — Your  memorialifts  cannot  deny  that  the 
"  word  excife  is  to  be  found  in  the  letter  of  the  federal  con- 
4C  ftiturioi*;  but  they  ftrongly  contend,  that  it  is  entirely  hof- 
"  tile  to  the  fpirit  of  that  inftrument.  One  of  the  principle  fa- 
<£  bricators  of  that  prodihStion,  was  the  prefent  judge  Wilfon» 
"  "When  the  fubjee}  was  debated  in  the  convention  of  Penn- 
<£  fylvania,  he  argued  that  it  was  neceftary  to  give  all  power 
^  to  government,  but  he  was  certain  that  an  excife  never  would 
"  be  impofed,  unlcfs  in  the  laft  extremity.  From  the  opinion 
ce  which  the  convention  of  Pennfylvania  exprefled  of  excife,  at 
<c  that  time,  and  which  the  aiTembly  of  this  ftate  have  exprefled 
"  fince,  it  is  evident  that  they  never  would  have  confented  to 
"  ratify  fuch  a  ftipulation,  if  they  had  conceived  that  it  was  to 
<c  become  one  of  the  firft,  and  favourite  refources  of  government. 

"  That  your  memorialifts  cannot  help  confidering  this  excife 
<£  on  fnuffas  corning,  exactly,  under  the  defcription  of  an  ex 
<( ' P°ftf,a^a  ^aw'  They  had  no  contemplation  of  fuch  a  bur^ 
^c  den,  when  they  built  their  mills,  and  gave  credit,  tofo  great 
<c  an  extent,  to  their  cuftomers.  Their  mills  would  not,  at 
"  prefent,  fell  for  one  half  of  the  money  which  they  originally 
"  coft,  and  one  half  of  them  are,  at  this  hour,  ftanding  idle, 
**  This,  of  itfelf,  would  be  fufHcient  to  deftroy  any  fet  of 
"  manufacturers.  Your  memorialifts  likewife  beg  leave  to 
a  ftate,  as  their  opinion,  that  if  the  merchants  and  manufaclu- 
C£  rers  of  Britain  had  a  liberty  of  petitioning  Congrefs,  they 
€C  could  not  folicit  a  mpre  favourable  mode  of  conduit  for  their 
"  own  intereft,  th?.n  perfuading  you  to  trammel,  and  diftrefs^ 
ct  the  manufacturers  of  America  with  excifes,  which  do  not 
"  pay  the  expencepf  their  collection,  which  in  one  ftate  pro- 


UNITED  STATES.  2oj 

"  duce  bankruptcy,  and  in  a  fecond,  rebellion.  They  humbly 
<c  regard  it  as  chimerical  to  term  America  independent  of  Bri- 
"  tain,  while  we  art  forced  to  fend  to  England  for  a  coat,  and 
"  to  Ireland  for  a  fhirt.  It  is  this  commercial  chain  of  de- 
"  pendence  in  which  Britain  has  entangled  fo  many  nations, 
tc  that  conftitutes  the  eflence  and  foul  of  her  ftrength,  and  that 
"  enables  her  to  bully,  to  combat,  and  to  rob  her  neighbours. 
"  It  is  her  fuperiority  in  manufactures,  which  has  enabled  this 
c<  kingdom  to  fubfidize  and  embattle  pirates  and  cut-throats^ 
"  in  every  corner  of  the  world,  while  fhe  herfelf  may  be  termed 
"  a  bucanneer  of  Atlantean  magnitnde,  whofe  grafp  embraces 
"  the  terraqueous  globe$  and  whofe  ftatufe  reaches  from  earth 
"  to  heaven: 

L  To  conclude,  your  memorialifts  ardently  flatter  them- 
"  felves  with  a  hope,  that  Congrefs  will  fee  the  expediency* 
"  and  everi  the  pofitive  and  inevitable  neceffity,  for  an  imme- 
"  diate  and  complete  abolition  of  the  excife  upon  fnuff  made 
""  in  America;  Though  fome  ill-advifed  manufacturers  to  the 
4<  eaftward  have  called  for  the  restoration  of  the  act  of  1794, 
"  the  principal  muff-makers,  in  that  part  of  the  union,  regard  it 
IC  with  as  much  abhorrence^  as  the  memorialifts  themfelves  do. 
u  To  continue  the  prefent  excife,  and  withhold  the  drawback,. 
"  would  be  to  prohibit^  in  a  great  meafure,  the  manufacture  of 
4<  tobacco^  the  fecond  ftaple  of  the  continent ;  and  it  has  alrea- 
*c  dy  beendemonftrated,  that,  to  continue  the  law,  and  the  draw- 
u  back,  in  their  prefent  fhape,is  only  to fquander  forty-five  dol- 
4<  lars  in  a  fruitlefs  fearch  after  one. 

"  Your  memorialifts,  therefore,  earneftly  folicit  an  entire  re- 
a  peal  of  the  excife  upon  fnuff,  and  they,  as  in  duty  bound,  will 
"  ever  pray,  &c* 

«  THOMAS  LEIPER,  &  Co. 
«  HAMILTON  &  SON, 
"ISAAC  JONES, 
«  JACOB  BENNINGHOVE, 
"JACOB  BENNINGHOVE,jun. 
"PHILIP  STIMBLE, 
tt  Philadelphia,  February  Sth,  1796." 

The  ftatute  hath  beett  fince  repeatedly  fufpen- 
ded,  and,  it  is  fuppofed,  will  never  more  be  put 
into  execution. 

Some  people  may  wonder  what  the  Houfe  of  R«- 


204  HISTORY    OF   THE 

prefentatives  were  thinking  of,  when  they  iuc- 
ceilively  enacted  fuch  felt-condemned  laws.  It  is 
likely  that,  during  the  difcuffion,  ten  or  fifteen 
were  employed  in  reading  newfpapers,  or  in  wri-- 
ting  letters.  About  as  many  more  might  be  in  pri- 
vate converfation,  at  the  back  of  the  Speaker's 
chair,  or  at  the  windows.  General  Samuel  Smith, 
who  hath  laved  the  houfe  from  many  woeful  mif- 
takes,  is  the  gentleman  alluded  to,  in  the  fecond 
paragraph  of  the  memorial. 

We  now  come  to  a  part  of  the  work,  more  de- 
licate, perhaps,  than  any  •  other.  The  freedoms 
which  the  federal  party  have  taken  with  thofe  who 
differ  from  their  opinions,  are  univcrfally  known. 
The  moil  impartial  fcrutiny  would  determine,  that, 
in  the  arts  of  calumny  and  detra&ion,  their  publi- 
cations exceed,  beyond  all  proportion,  thofe  of  their 
adverfaries.  In  the  firft  felfion  of  the  fifth  Con- 
grefs,  'Mr.  Harper  has  publicly  declared  to  the 
rieprefentatives,  that  Mr.  James  Munroe,  our  late 
envoy  to  France,  was  guilty  of  corruption  by  for- 
eign influence.  On  being  quefHoned  by  Mr.  Giles,  he 
has  promifed,  ill  due  time  and  place,  to  bring  evi- 
dence of.  liis  accufaticn.  This  example  is  only  one 
out  of  hundreds  which  might  be  adduced  to  mew 
that  the  friends  of  order,  for  ftich  they  call  them- 
felves,  are  refolved  to  fet  no  limits  to  their  rage 
;-iid  their  vengeance.  Of  courfe,  they  cannot  ex- 
pect to  meet  with  that  tendernefs  which  they  re- 
.  fufe  to  grant. 

Attacks  on  Mr.  Munroe  have  been  frequently 
repeated  from  the  flock-holding  preffes.  They  are 
cowardly,  becaufe  he  is  abfent.  They  are  uujuft, 
bcicauie  his  con  duel  will  bear  the  ftriftcft  enquirv 
Thcv  are  ungrateful,  becaule  he  difplayed,  on  an 
occaiion  .that  will  be  mentioned  immediately],  tire 


gi-c 


catefl  lenity  to  Mr.  Alexander  Hamilton;  tlie  pri 


UNITED    STATES.  26f 

mover  of  the  federal  party.  When  fome  of  thg? 
papers  which  are  now  to  be  laid  before  the  world, 
were  fubmitted  to  the  fecretary  ;  when  he  was  in- 
formed that  they  were  to  be  communicated  to  Pre~ 
ildent  Wamington,  he  entreated,  in  the  moft  anx- 
ious tone  of  deprecation,  that  this  ineafure  might 
be  fufpended.  Mr.  Munroe  was  one  of  the  three 
gentlemen  who  agreed  to  a  delay.  They  gave  their 
confent  to  it,  on  his  exprefs  promife  of  a  guarded 
behaviour  in  future,  and  becaufe  he  attached  to  the 
fuppreffion  of  thefe  papers,  a  niyfterious  degree  of 
iblicitude,  wrhich  they,  feeling  no  perfonal  refent- 
ment  againft  the  individual,  were  unwilling  to  a'ug- 
ment. 

The  unfounded  reproaches  heaped  on  Mr.  Mun- 
roe, form  the  immediate  motive  to  the  publication 
of  thefe  papers.  They  are  here  printed  from  an  at- 
tefted  copy,  exactly  conformable  to  that,  which, 
at  his  own  defire,  was  delivered  to  Mr.  Hamilton 
himfelf.  Not  a  word  has  been  added  or  altered, 
and  the  period  of  four  years  may,  furely,  have 
been  enough  to  furnim  the  ex-fecretary  with  mate- 
rials for  his  defence.  In  the  letters  of  Camillus, 
the  moffc  fublime  principles  of  action  arc  every 
where  inculcated.  But  we  (hall  prefently  fee  this 
great  matter  of  morality,  though  himfelf  the  father 
of  a  family,  confeffing  that  he  had  an  illicit  cor- 
refpondence  wTith  another  man's  wife.  If  any  thing 
can  be  yet  lefs  reputable,  it  is,  that  the  gentlemen 
to  whom  he  made  that  acknowledgement  held  it  as 
an  impofition,  and  found  various  reafons  for  be- 
lieving that  Mrs.  Reynolds  was,  in  reality,  guilt- 
lefs.  An  attentive  critic  will  be  led  to  enquire 
what  has  become  of  her  hufband,  and  why  the  in- 
dignant innocence  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  did  wot  pro- 
mote the  completion  of  public  judice  againft  a  per- 
fon,  who  had  treated  his  name  with  fuch  grofs'diF- 


2o6  HISTORY    OF   THE 

refpecl:  ?  What  a  fcandalous  imputation  was  it 
for  this  culprit  to  caft  upon  our  fecretary,  that  he 
had  gained  thirty  thoufand  dollars  by  the  purchafe 
of  army  certificates,  that  this  fellow  could  bring 
him  to  capital  punifhment,  &c.  &c.  ?  It  is  to  be 
wifhed  that  Reynolds  may  ftill  be  found,  and  that, 
to  borrow  the  words  of  his  friend,  Dr.  William 
Smith,  the  Secretary  may  come  out  of  this  matier, 
<c  as  fair  as  the  pureft  angel  in  heaven  /" 

Before  committing  the  following  papers  to  the 
xvorld,  their  editor  mufl  agaiti  beg  leave  to  re-- 
mark,  that  they  are  nothing  more  nor  lefsthan  ex* 
aft  copies,  from  attefled  originals,  of  which  Mr. 
Hamilton,  as  hereafter  fpecified,  has  been,  at  his 
own  deflre,  fupplied  with  an  accurate  tranfcript. 
Some  expreflions  ufed  by  the  culprit^  Reynolds, 
are  harfh,  and  convey  difgufl,  without  adding  to 
conviction.  The  editor,  from  averfion  to  invec- 
tive, had,  on  this  account,  refolved  to  leave  them 
out,  as  well  as  feveral  other  paffages,  which  are 
of  little  importance  to  the  main  point.  But  on 
due  reflection,  it  has  been  found  fafer,  and  more 
advifeable,  to  publifti  the  whole,  even  at  the  ha- 
zard of  being  tedious.  This  precludes  all  pre- 
tence of  mutilation  for  unfair  purpofes. 

As  to  the  aiperity  of  flyle  in  fome  parts  of  the 
precious  confeffions  of  Reynolds,  the  painful  reluc- 
tance of  the  editor,  to  the  printing  of  them,  has 
been  fomewhat  leffened,  from  the  volunteer  ac- 
knowledgment of  feduciion,  emitted  by  the  ex^ 
fecretary  himfelf.  This  appears  to  be  about  as 
bad,  as  any  thing  which  his  wretched  underftrap- 
per  either  faid  againft  him,  or  could  imaginably 
have  to  fay.  A  procurer  has*always  been  regarded 
as  in  the  lowed  fcale  of  human  character.  Mutatis 
mutandis,  the  patron  of  fuch  an  agent  can  havewo 
fcruple  to  become  one* 


UNITED  STATES. 
Again,  the  intemperate  ftyle  of  the  convivial, 
and  confidential  communications  of  our  ex-fecre- 
tary,  prohibits  him  from  being  regarded  as  any 
peculiar  object  of  indulgence.  For  inflance,  he 
has  often  boafted  of  receiving  letters  from  Prefident 
Wafhington,  with  the  word  private  wrote  on  the 
back  of  them,  and  a  crofs  drawn  over  the  feaL 
u  After  opening  fuch  a  parcel,"  faid  Mr.  Hamilton, 
u  what  do  you  think  were  the  contents  ?  DEAR 
"  HAMILTON,  put  this  into  Jlyle  for  me.  Some 
"  fpeech  or  letter  has  been  inclofed,  which  I  wrote 
*c  over  again,  fent  it  back,  and  then  the  OLD  DAMNED 
"  FOOL,  gave  it  away  as  his  own."  Mr.  Hamilton 
is  not  fingular  in  uiing  this  ftyle  to  general  Wafli- 
ington .  After  the  fquabble  between  citizen  Genet, 
John  Jay,  and  Rufus  King,  the  two  latter  fent  a 
mofl  infulting  letter  to  the  Prefident,  Randolph 
advifed  him  to  refent  it,  He  had  once  refolved 
to  do  fo  ;  but  altered  his  intention,  from  a  jealoufy 
that  the  writers  were  in  concert  with  Hamilton, 
from  whom  he  could  not  determine  to  disjoin  him- 
felf.  Jay  and  King  wanted  to  obtain  a  certificate, 
which  Mr,  Jefferfon  had  drawn  up,  relating  to  the 
behaviour  of  citizen  Genet,  The  Prefident  actual- 
ly gave  them  the  certificate,  but  it  is  thought  that 
they  found  it  not  to  their  purpofe;  for  it  was 
fupprefTed.  Jay  and  King  alfo  got  back  from 
the  Prefident  their  impertinent  letter ;  of  which, 
after  cooling,  they  began  tp  be  afliamed.  But  a 
copy  of  it  is  in  exigence,  and  fome  hopes  remain 
of  its  being  obtained  for  publication.  Thefe  par- 
ticulars are  derived  from  undoubted  authority. 
They  prove  what  was  fo  fully  dated  in  the  Ameri- 
can Annual  Regifter,  that  the  federal  party  def- 
pifed  the  late  Prefident ;  that  they  took  frequent, 
opportunities  of  infulting  him  ;  and  that  they  a£> 
fumed  the  popularity  of  his  name  with  no  view 
but  to  ferve  their  own  ends, 


2cB  HISTORY    OF   THE 

To  be  the  prompter  and  primitm  mobile  of  the 
great  eft  man  in  the  world,  might  have  flattered  the 
vanity  of  a  more  difcreet  favourite  than  Mr.  Ha- 
milton. To  hear  the  Reprefentatives,  as  in  No- 
vember, 1794,  difpute  for  'three  weeks  upon  the 
•wording  of  an  anfvver  to  a  fpeech  of  his  own  corn- 
pofition,  mufb  have  been  highly  Toothing  to  the  felf- 
importance  of  the  ex-fecretary.  But,  as  genera! 
Wafhington  had  been,  in  the  higheft  fenfe  of  the 
word,  his  benefactor,  he  ought  to  have  concealed 
the  imperfections  of  his  friend.  He  has  often  com- 
•  parcel  his  influence  over  the  Prefident  to  that  of  the 
wind  upon  a  weather  cock,  or  of  tliat  over  an  au- 
tomaton, moved  only  by  the  hand  which  directs  it. 
Tliis  ftyle  was  both  imprudent  and  ungrateful.  His 
-power  was  very  great,  but  not  entirely  unbounded. 
He  wanted  to  be  lent  to  England  as  envoy  to  ne- 
gociate  the  treaty.  The  arguments  of  Randolph 
hindered  the  Preiiident  from  giving  his  conient. 
That  the  pen  of  Mr.  Hamilton  has  long  a  Hided  the 
Prefident  is  a  ftory  current  in  'Europe  as  well  as  in. 
America  ;  and  that  the  fpeeches  and  letters -of  gene- 
•ml  Wafhington  are  extremely  different  from  his 
more  early  productions  is  very  well  known. 

We  (hall  conclude  theie  prefatory  obfervations 
with  an  anecdote.  During  the  late  canvafs  for  the 
election  of  a  Prefident,  Webfter,  in  his  Minerva, 
gave  a  hint,  that  Mr.  Hamilton  would  be  an  advif- 
abfe  candidate.  A  perfon  in  this  city,  who  chanced 
to  fee  this  newfpaper,  wi*ote  immediately  to  a  cor- 
refpondent  in  New- York.  The  letter  defirecl  him 
to  put  himfelfin  Mr.  Hamilton's  way,  and  inform 
him  that  if  Webfter  fhould,  in  future,  print  a  (ingle 
paragraph  on  that  head,  the  following  papers  were 
inftantly  to  be  laid  before  the  world.  It  is  believed 
the  mellage  was  delivered  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  for 
th^e  Minerva  bee : ame.fi lent. 


UNITED    STATES.  20$ 

(No.  I.) 

JACOB  CLINGMAN,  being  a  clerk  in  my  employ- 
ment, (F.  A.  Muhlenberg)  and  becoming  involved  in  a  pro- 
fecution  commenced  againft  JAMES  REYNOLDS,  by  ths 
Comptroller  of  the  Treafury,  on  a  charge  or  information  exhi- 
bited before  Hilary  Baker,  efq.  one  of  the  aldermen  of  this  ci- 
ty, for  fubornation  of  perjury,  whereby  they  had  obtained  mo- 
ney from  the  treafury  of  the  United  States,  he  (Clingman} 
applied  to  me,  for  my  aid  and  friendfhip,  on  behalf  of  himfelf 
and  Reynolds,  to  get  them  releafed  or  difcharged  from  the  pro- 
fecution.  I  promifed,  fo  far  as  refpecTied  Clingman;  but,  not 
being  particularly  acquainted  with  Reynolds,  in  a  great  mea- 
fure,  declined  fo  far  as  refpedted  him.  In  company  with  colo- 
nel Burr,  I  waited  on  colonel  Hamilton  for  the  purpofe,  and 
particularly  recommended  Clingman,  who  had  hitherto  fuf- 
tained  a  good  character.  Colonel  Hamilton  fignified  a  wifh  to 
do  all  that  was  confident.  Shortly  after,  I  waited  on  the  Comp- 
troller for  the  fame  purpofe,  whofeemed  to  have  difficulties  or* 
the  fubjecT: ;  and,  from  fome  information  I  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  received,  I  could  not  undertake  to  recommend  Reynolds, 
as  I  verily  believed  him  to  be  a  rafcal,  which  words  I  made, 
ufe  of  to  the  Comptroller.  On  a  fecond  interview  with  the 
Comptroller,  on  the  fame  fubje&,  the  latter  urged  the  propriety 
of  Clingman's  delivering  up  a  certain  lift  of  money  due  toin- 
dividuals,  which  Reynolds  and  Clingman  were  faid  to  have  in 
their  pofleffion,  and  of  his  informing  him,  of  whom,  and  through 
whom,  the  fame  was  obtained  from  the  public  offices  ;  on 
doing  which,'  Clingman's  requeft  might,  perhaps,  be  granted 
with  greater  propriety.  This,  Clingman,  I  am  informed,  com- 
plied with,  and  alfo  refunded  the  money  or  certificates,  which 
they  had  improperly  obtained  from  the  treafury.  After  which, 
I  underftand  the  action  againfl  both  was  withdrawn,  and  Rey- 
nolds difcharged  from  tmprifonment,  without  any  farther  inter- 
ference cf  mine  whatever; 

During  the  time  this  bufmefs  was  thus  depending,  and  which 
laded  upwards  of  three  weeks,  Clingman,  unafkcd,  frequently 
dropped  hints  to  me,  that  Reynolds  had  it  in  his  power,  very 
materially  to  injure  the  Secretary  of  the  Treafury ;  and  that 
Reynolds  knew  feveral  very  improper  tranfa&ions  of  his.  1 
paid  little  or  no  attention  to  thofe  hints  ;  but,  when  they  were 
frequently  repeated,  and  it  was  even  added,  that  Reynolds  faid? 

E  e 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

he  bad  it  in  Ins  power  to  bang  the  Secretary  of  the  Treafury  ; 
that  he  was  deeply  concerned  in  ^peculation  ;  that  he  had  fre- 
quently advanced  money  to  him,  (Reynolds)  ;  and  other  infi- 
nuations  of  an  improper  nature, -it  created  considerable  uneafi- 
nefs  in  my  mind,  and  I  conceived  it  my  duty  to  confult  with 
fome  friends  on  the  fubjecl:. — Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Venable 
were  informed  of  it  yeiterday  morning. 
(Signed,)  F.  A. 


(No.  II.)- 

BEING  informed  yefterday,  in  the  morning,  that  a  perfon 
of  the  name  of  Reynolds,  from  Virginia,  Richmond,  was  con- 
fined in  the  jail,  upon  fome  criminal  profecution  relative  to  cer- 
tificates, and  that  he  had  intimated,  he  would  give  fame  intel- 
ligence of  fpeculations  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  which  fhould  be 
known,  WE  immediately  called  on  him,  as  well  to  be  informed 
of  the  Situation  of  the  man,  as  of  thofe  other  matters,  in  which 
the  public  might  be  interefted.'  We  found  it  was  not  the  per- 
fon, we  had  been  taught  to  believe,  but  a  man  of  that  nam^ 
from  New- York,  and  who  had,  for  fome  time  pad,  refided  in 
this  city.  Being  there,  however,  we  queftioncd  him  refpe&ing 
the  other  particular;  he  informed  us,  that  he  could  ^give  infor- 
mation of  the  mifconducl:,  in  that  refpecl,  of  a  perfon  high  in 
office,  but  muft  decline  it,  for  the  prefent,  and  until  relieved, 
which  was  promifed  him  that  evening :  that  at  ten  to-day,  he 
would  give  us  a  detail  of  whatever  he  knew  on  the  fubjec"h 
He  affirmed,  he  had  a  perfon,  high  in  office,  in  his  power,  and 
had  had,  a  long  time  paft.  That  he  had  written  to  him,  in 
terms  fo  abufive,  that  no  perfon  fhould  have  fubmitted  to  it, 
but  that  he  dared  not  to  refent  it.  That  Mr.  Wolcot  was 
in  the  fame  department,  and,  he  fuppofed,  under  his  influence 
or  controul ;  and,  in  fact,  exprefTed  himfelf  in  fuch  a  manner, 
as  to  leave  no  doubt,  he  meant  Mr.  Hamilton.  That  he  ex- 
pected to  be  releafed  by  Mr.  Wolcot,  at  the  inftance  of  that 
perfon,  although  he  believed,  that  Mr.  Wolcot,  in  inftituting 
the  profecution,  had  no  improper  defign  ;  that  he  was  fatisfied, 
the  profecution  was  fet  on  foot,  only  to  keep  him  low,  and 
opprefs  him,  and  ultimately  drive  him  away  ;  that  he  had  harj? 
fince  his  refidence  here,  for  eighteen  months,  many  privnir 
meetings  with  that  perfon,  who  had  often  promifed  to  put  him 
into  employment,  but  had  difappointed  him  ;  that  on  hearing 


UNITED    STATES.  211 

the  profecutlon  was  commenced  againft  him,  he  applied  to  this 
perfon  Lr  counfel,  who  advifed  him  to  keep  out  of  the  way, 
for  a  few  days  ;  that  a  merchant  came  to  him,  and  offered,  as 
a  volunteer,  to  he  his  bail,who,  he  fufpe&ed,  had  been  inftigated 
by  this  perfon  ;  and,  after  being  decoyed  to  the  place,  the  mer- 
chant wiihed  to  carry  him  [to],  he  refufed  being  his  bail,  unlefs 
he  would  depofit  a  fujn  of  money,  to  fome  confiderable  amount* 
which  he  could  not  do,  and  was,  in  confequence,  committed 
to  prifon.  As  well  as  we  remember,  he  gave,  as  a  reafon, 
why  he  could  not  communicate  to  us,  what  he  knew  of  the 
fa&s  alluded  to,  that  he  was  apprehenfi  ve,  it  might  prevent 
his  difcharge ;  but  that  he  would  certainly  communicate  the 
whole  to  us,  at  ten  this  morning :  at  which  time,  we  were 
informed,  he  had  abfconded,  or  concealed  himfelf. 

(Signed,)  JAMES  MONROE, 

ABRAHAM  VENABLE, 


(No.  III.} 

BEING  deftrous,  on  account  of  their  equivocal  complexion,, 
to  examine  into  the  fuggeftions  which  had  been  made  us,  ref- 
pe£ting  the  motive  for  rKe  confinement  and  propofed  enlarge- 
ment of  James  Reynolds,  from  the  jail  of  this  city,  and  incli- 
ned to  fuipecr,  for  the  fame  reafon,  that,  unlefs' it  were  immedi- 
ately done,  the  opportunity  would  be  loft,  as  v/e  were  taught 
to  fufpect  he  would  leave  the  place,  immediately  alter  his  dif- 
charge, v/e  called  at  his  houie,  hft  night,  for  that  purpofe;  we 
found  Mrs.  Reynolds  alone.  It  was,  with  difficulty,  we  }b- 
tainedfrom  her,  any  information  on  the  fupjecr  ;  but  at  length 
fhe  communicated  to  us  the  following  particulars. 

That  fmce  colonel  Hamilton  was  Secretary  of  the  Treafu-. 
ry,  and  at  his  requeft,  Jhe  bad  burned  a  confiderable  number  of 
letters  from  him  to  her  bit/band^  and  in  the  abfence  of  the  latter,, 
touching  bufmefs  between  them,  to  prevent  their  being  made 
public.  She  alfo  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Ciingman  had  feveral 
anonymous  notes  addrefled  to  her  hufband,  which,  fhe  believed,, 
were  from  Mr.  Hamilton  (which  we  have)  with  an  endorfe-. 
ment"  from  fecretary  Hamilton, .efq."  in  Mr.  Reynolds's  hand 
writing  ;  that  Mr.  Hamilton  offered  her  his  affiftance  to  gOv 
to  her  friends,  which  he  advifed;  that  he  alfo  advjfed,  that  her 
hulband  fhould  leave  the  parts,  not  to  be  feen  here  again  j  and 
in  which  cafe,  he  would  give  fomttbing  clever*  That  fhe  was. 


212  HISTORY    OF    THE 

fatisfied,  this  wifli  for  his  departure  did  not  proceed  from  friend- 
fiiip-to  him,  but  on  account  of  his  threat,  that  he  could  tell 
fomething  that  would  make  fome  of  the  heads  of  departments 
tremble.  That  Mr.  Wadfworth  had  been  active  in  her  be- 
half; firft  at  her  requeft,  but,  in  her  opinion,  with  the  know- 
ledge and  communication  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  whofe  friend  he 
profefled  to  be  ;  that  he  had  been  at  her  houfe  yefterday,  and 
mentioned  to  her,  that  two  gentlemen  of  Congrefs  had  been  at 
the  jail,  to  confer  with  her  hufband;  enquired,  if  fhe  knew 
what  they  went  for ;  obferved,  he  knew  Mr.  Hamilton  had 
enernies,who  would  try  to  prove  fome  fpeculations  on  him,  but 
when  enquired  into,  he  would  be  found  immaculate  ;  to  which 
{he  replied,  fhe  rather  doubted  it. 

We  faw,  in  her  pofleffion,  two  notes  ;  one  in  the  name  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  of  the  6th  of  December,  and  the  other, 
figned  "  J.  W."  purporting  to  have  been  written  yefterday  j, 
both  expreiling  a  defire  to  relieve  her. 

She  denied  any  recent  communication  with  Mr.  Hamilton, 
or  that  {he  had  received  any  money  from  him  to-day. 

(Signed,)  F.  A.  MUHLENBERG. 

JAMES  MONROE. 
ABRAHAM  VENABLE* 


(No.  IV.) 
Philadelphia^  i^th  December, 

JACOB  CLINGMAN  has  been  engaged  in  fome  nego-, 
ciations  with  Mr.  James  Reynolds,  the  perfon,  who  has  late- 
ly been difcharged  from  aprofecution  inftituted  againfl  him,  by 
the  Comptroller  of  the  Treafury. 

That  his  acquaintance  commenced  in  September,  1791  ; 
that  a  mutual  confidence  and  intimacy  exifted  between  them; 
that  in  January  or  February  Jail,  he  faw  colonel  Hamilton 
at  the  houfe  of  Reynolds.  Immediately  on  his  going  into  the 
houfe,  colonel  Hamilton  retired.  That  in  a  few  days  after, 
he  (Clingman)  was  at  Mr.  Reynolds's  houfe,  with  Mrs.  Rey- 
nolds, her  hufband  being  then  out ;  fome  perfon  knocked  at  the 
cioor ;  he  arofe  and  opened  it,  and  faw  that  it  was  colonel  Ha- 
milton. Mrs.  Reynolds  went  to  the  door;  he  delivered  a  pa- 
per to  her,  and  faid,  he  was  ordered  to  give  Mr.  Reynolds 
that,  He  afked  Mrs.  Reynolds  who  could  order  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treafury  of  the  United  States  to  give  that  ?  She  replied, 
that  fhe  fuppofed,  he  did  not  want  to  be  known.  This  happened 


UNITED    STATES.  213 

in  the  night.  He  afked  her,  how  long  Mr.  Reynolds  had  been 
acquainted  with  colonel  Hamilton?  She  replied, fome  months  ; 
thatcelonel  Hamilton  had  aflifted  her  hu (band;  that  fometime 
before  that,  he  had  received  upwards  of  eleven  hundred  dollars, 
of  colonel  Hamilton.  Sometime  after  this,  Clingman  was 
at  the  houfe  of  Reynolds,  and  faw  colonel  Hamilton;  he  retired 
and  left  him  there. 

A  little  after  D tier's  failure,  Reynolds  told  Clingman,  in 
confidence,  that  if  Duer  had  held  up,  three  days  longer,  he 
{hould  have  made  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  by  the  afliftance  of 
colonel    Hamilton;    that    colonel     Hamilton   had    informed 
him,  that  he  was  connected  with  Duer.     Mr.  Reynolds  alfb 
faid,  that  colonel  Hamilton  had  made  thirty  thoufand  dollars 
by  fpeculation ;  that  colonel  Hamilton  had  fupplied  him  with 
money  to  fpeculate.    That,   about  June  lari,  Reynolds  told 
Clingman,  that  he  had  applied  to  colonel  Hamilton  for  money 
to  fubfcribe  to  the  turnpike-road  at  Lancafter,  and  had  received 
a  note  from  him,  in  thefe  words,  "  It  is  utterly  out  of  my  pow- 
•4<  er,  I  ^fTure  you,  upon  my  honour,  to  comply  with  your  re- 
"  queft.     Your  note  is  returned  ;"  which  original  note,  ac- 
companying   this,  has   been  in    Clingman's  poileffion   ever 
iince.     Mr.  Reynolds  has  once  or  twice  mentioned  to  Cling- 
rnan,  that  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  hang  colonel  Hamilton ; 
that  if  he  wanted  money,  he  was  obliged  to  let  him  have  it, 
That  he  (Clingman)  has  occafionally  lent  money  to  Reynolds 
who  always  told  him,  that  he  could  always  get  it  from  colo- 
nel Hamilton,  to  repay  it ;  that,  on  one  occafion,  Clingman 
lent  him  two  hundred  dollars  ;  that  Reynolds  promifed  to  pay 
him,    through  the  means  of  colonel  Hamilton;  that  he  went 
with  him,  faw  him  go  into  colonel  Hamilton's  ;    that,  after  he 
came  out,  he  paid  him  one  hundred  dollars,  which,  he  faid,  was 
part  of  the  fum,  he  had  got;  and  paid  the  balance,  in  a  few 
days ;  the  latter  fum  paid  was  faid  to  have  been  received  from 
colonel  Hamilton,  after  his  return  from  Jerfey,  having  made  a 
vifit  to  the  manufa6hiring  fociety  there. 

After  a  warrant  was  ifTued  againft  Reynolds,  upon  a  late 
profecution,  which  was  inftituted  againft  him,  Clingman,  fee- 
ing Reynolds,  afked  him,  why  he  did  not  apply  to  his  friend 
colonel  Hamilton  ?  He  faid,  he  would  go  immediately,  and 
went  accordingly.  He  faid  afterwards,  that  colonel  Hamilton 
advifed  him  to  keep  out  of  the  way,  a  few  days,  and  the  mat- 
ter would  be  fettled.  That  after  this  time,  Henry  SeckeJ* 


HISTORY  OF    THE 

vt\*nt  to  R?y:~olcb,  and  offered  to  be  his  bail,  if  he  would  go 
i*iifi  fern*  to  Mr.  Baker's  office,  where  he  had  left  the  officer, 
\vho  had  the  warrant  in  writing  ;  that  he  prevailed  on  Rey- 
nolds to  go  with  him.  That  after  Reynolds  was  taken  into 
cuitoily';  Seckel  refufed  to  become  his  bail,  unlefs  he  would 

.;,  in  his  pofieilion,  property  to  the  value  of  four  hundred 
pounds  j  upon  which,  Reynolds  wrote  to  colonel  Hamilton, 
and  Mr.  Scckel  carried  the  note.  After  two  or  three  times 
going,  he  law  colonel  Hamilton,  Colonel  Hamilton  faid,  he 

Reynolds  rnu  his  father  j  that    his  father  was  a  good 

in  the  i«tc  war  ;  that  was  all  he  could  fay  ;  that  it  was 
i  hi:;  puv/er  to  aiftft  him  ;  in  confequence  of  which,  Secktl 

d  to  be  his  bail,  and  Reynolds  was  imprifoned.  Mr. 
Reynolds  alfo  applied  to  Mr.  Francis,  who  is  one  of  the  clerks 
i:i  thj  ;reafury  department-,  he  faid,  he  could  not  do  any 

,    without   the    confent  of  colonel   Hamilton;    that   he 

JY  to  him.     lie  applied  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  who  told 

hinij  that  it  \vould  not  be  prudent  ;  if  he  did,  he  muft  leave 


After  Reynolds  was  confined,  Ciingman  afked  Mrs.  Rey- 

,  why  ihe  did  not  apply  to  colonel  Hamilton  to  difmifs 

rum,  as  the  money  was  ready  to  be  refunded,  that  was  recuv- 

ci*.    .She  replied.,  that  fliy  had  applied  to  him,  and  he  had  fent 

h-r  to  IvU,  "W'olcot  ;  but  directed  her  not  to  let  Mr.  Wolcot 

Lnovv,  that  he  had  lent  her  there.  Not  with  Handing  this  in- 

.i«m,  ihe  did  let    Mr.  Wolcot  know,  by  whom  ihe  had 

Jjnt,  who  appeared  to  be  furprifed  at  the  information,  but 

Jute!,  he  would  do  what  h?  could  for  her,  and  would  confult 

.-.:!  Hamilton  on  the  occafion.    Colonel  Kamil  ton  ad  vifed 

jj  get  fome  peribns  of  n.  (pea  Ability,  to  intercede  tor  her 

.:!(),  and  nieiitionv'd  Mr.  Muhlenberg. 

••iiojds  continued  to  be  kept  in  cuitody,  for  fome  time, 

r'^ht;.;    \vhich  tirne,   Clin^ir.an   had   converfiUion    with  Mr. 

>s.rhofi'.id,  if  h"  v/o«tld  give  up  a  lift  of  foldier's  claims, 

•  rcieafed.     After  this,  Mrs.  Rey- 

nolds informed  Cliiigmpp.,  that  colonel  Hamilton  had  told  her, 
-.1  fhouid   write  a.  letter  to  Mr.  V/olcot,  and    a; 
iluplk-ateof  the  fame  to  prorviifmp:  to  give  up  the  lift, 

rtv;'j  :  f  money  which  had  been  obtained  on  a  certificate, 

Vv'Iiicli  h:;u  bsc  n  laid  to  have  'Dft'n  iipproperly  obtained.      Cling- 

for    the   letters  that  her  hufband 
.  from  time  to  time,  as  ba 


UNITED    STATES.  uy 

might  probably  ufe  them  to  obtain  her  hu  (band's  liberty. 
She  replied,  that  colonel  Hamilton  had  requeued  her  to  burn 
all  the  letters,  that  were  in  his  hand-writing,  or  that  had  his 
name  to  them\  which  fhe  had  done.  He  preited  her  to  exa- 
mine again,  as  fhe  might  not  have  destroyed  the-  whole,  and 
they  would  be  ufeful.  She  .examined,  and  found  two  or  three 
notes,  without  any  name,  which  are  herewith  fubmittgdy  and 
which,  (he  faid,  were  notes  from  colonel  Hamilton. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  told  Clingman,  that  having  heard,  that  her 
hu  (band's  father  was,  in  the  late  war,  a  commHiary  under  the 
direction  of  colonel  Wndfworth,  fhe  waited  on  him,  to  get  him 
to  intercede  for  her  hufband's  difcharge.  Fie  told  her,  lie  would 
give  her  his  amftance,  and  faid,  "  now  you  have  mads  me  your 
"  friend,  you  muft  apply  to  no  perfoh  eld-."  That  on  Sunday 
evening,  Clingman  went  to  the  boufe  of  Reynolds,  and  found 
colonel  Wadfworth  there.  He  was  introduced  to  colonel  Wadf- 
worth, by  Mrs.  Reynolds.  Colonel  Wadfworth  told  him, 
he  had  feen  Mr.  Wolcot ;  that  Mr.  Wolcot  would  do  any 
thing  for  him,  (Clingman),  and  Reynolds*s  family,  that  he 
could  ;  that  he  had  called  on  colonel  Hamilton,  but  had  not 
feen  him ;  that  he  might  tell  him,  Mr.  Muhlenberg,  that  a 
friend  of  his  (Clingmaa's)  had  told  him,  that,  colonel  Wadf- 
worth was  a  countryman  and  fchoolmate  of  Mr.  Ingeribli,  and 
that  colonel  Wadfworth  was  alfo  intimate  with  the  governor, 
and. that  the  governor  would  do  almoft  any  thing,  to  oblige* 
him  ;  that  his  name  muft  not  be  mentioned  to  Mr.  Muhlenberg, 
as  telling  him  this;  but  that,  if  Mr.  Muhlenberg  could  be 
brought  to  fpeak  to  him  firfr,  on  the  fi:bject,  'he  would  then  do 
any  thing  in  his  power,  for  them  ;  and  told  him  not  to  /peak 
to  him,  if  he  fhould  meet  him  in  the  frreet ;  and  laid,  if  his 
name  was  mentioned,  that  he  would  do  nothing.  That  on 
Wednefday,  Clingman  faw  colonel  Wadfworth,  at  Reynolds's 
houfc ;  he  did  not  find  her  at  home,  but  left  a  note  ;  but,  ou 
going  out,  he  met  her,  and  faid,  he  had  feen  every  body,  and 
done  every  thing. 

Mrs.  Reynolds  told  Clingman,  that  me  had  received  money 
from  colonel  Hamilton,  fmce  her  hufband's  confinement,  cr.clo- 
fed  in  a  note,  which  note  fhe  had  burned. 

After  Reynolds  was  diicharged,  (which  was  eight  c:1  nine 
o'clock  on  Wednefday  evening);  about  twelve' o'clock  at 
night,  Mr.  Reynolds  lent  a  letter  to  colonel  Hamilton  by  a 
girl  ;  which  letter,  Clingman  iUw  dejiver«d  to  the  girl. 


216  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Reynolds  followed  the  girl,  and  Clingman  followed  him.  He 
faw  the  girl  go  into  colonel  Hamilton's  houfe.  Clingman  then 
joined  Reynolds,  and  they  walked  back  and  forward  in  the 
flreet,  until  the  girl  returned,  and  informed  Reynolds,  that  he 
need  not  go  out  of  town  that  night,  but  call  on  him  early  in  the 
morning.  In  the  morning,  between  feven  and  eight  o'clock, 
he  faw  Reynolds  go  to  colonel  Hamilton's  houfe,  and  go  in. 
He  has  not  feen  him  fince,  and  fuppofes,  he  is  gone  out  of 
town. 

Mr.  Clingman  further  adds,  that  fometime  ago  he  was  in- 
formed by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds,  that  be  had  books  contain- 
ing the  amount  of  the  cajh  due  to  the  Virginia  line  at  his  own 
houfe  at  New-York,  with  liberty  to  copy,  and  were  obtain- 
ed through  Mr.  Duer. 

The  above  contains  the  truth,  to  the  beftof  my  knowledge 
and  recollection,  and  to  which  I  am  ready  to  make  oath. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  I3th  December,  1792. 

(Signed,)  JACOB  CLINGMAN. 


(No.   V.) 
Philadelphia,  i$tb  December,  1792. 

Mr.  Clingman  informs  us,  that  Mr.  Reynolds  returned  to 
town,  on  Thurfdny  night,  and  told  him,  he  had  written  him  a  let- 
ter which  he  then  had  ;  not  having  had  an  opportunity  to  fend 
it  to  him,  and  which  he  then  tore;  part  of  which  was  thrown  in- 
to the  fire.  Other  parts  he  prefented  to  us,  and  which  we  now 
have. 

That  Reynolds,  at  the  fame  time,  told  him,  he  had  been  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  morning  of  that  day,  when  they 
parted,  about  funrife.  That  he  was  extremely  agitated,  walk- 
ing  backward  and  forward  the  room,  andftriking,  alternately, 
his  forehead  and  his  thigh  ;  obferving  to  him,  that  he  had  ene- 
mies at  zvork,  but  -was  willing  to  meet  them,  on  fair  ground, 
and  requejted  him  not  tojlay  long,  lejl  it  might  be  noticed. 

Mr.  Clingman  alfo  informs  us,  that  he  received  a  note  from 
Mr.  Wolcot,  to  meet  him,  on  Friday  morning,  at  half  paft  nine 
(which  note  we  have).  That  he  attended,  and  had  an  inter- 
view with  him,  in  prefence  of  Mr.  Hamilton  ;  when  he  \ras 
ftri&ly  examined  by  both,  refpe&ing  the  perfons,  who  were  en- 
quiring into  the  matter,  and  their  obje&  ;  that  he  told  Mr. 
Hamilton,  he  had  been  poflefled  of  his  notes  to  Reynolds,  and 


UNITED    STATES.  217 

had  given  them  up  to  thefe  gentlemen:  and  to  which, he  re- 
plied, he  had  done  very  wrong.  That  he  alfo  told  Mr.  Ha- 
milton of  the  letter  he  had  received  from  Reynolds,  fmce  his 
enlargement,  mentioning  that  he  (Mr.  Hamilton)  would  make 
Francis  fwear  back  what  he  had  faid  ;  and  to  which  Mr.  Ha- 
milton replied,  he  would  make  him  unfay  any  falfity  he  had 
declared. 

Mr.  Hamilton  faid,  Reynolds  was  a  villain,  arafcal,  and  he 
fuppofed,  would  fwear  to  any  thing. 

Mr.  Wolcot  faid,  that  unlefs  Clingman  ufed  the  fame  can- 
dour to  him,  that  he  had  .done  to  Clingman,  he  fhould  not  con- 
fider  himfelf  bound. 

Mr.  Hamilton  wanted  to  know,  what  members  of  Congrefs 
were  concerned  in  the  enquiry,  and  defired  him  to  go  into  the 
gallery,  where  he  would  fee  them,  and  enquire  their  names  of 
the  byftanders. 

Mr.  Hamilton  obferved,  he  had  had  fome  tranfa&ion  with 
Reynolds,  which  he  had  before  mentioned,  as  well  as  Clingmaa 
remembers,  to  Mr.  Wolcot,  and  need  not  go  into  detail. 

Clingman  alfo  informs  us,  that  Reynolds  told  him,  fmce  his 
enlargement,  that  when  he  was  about  tofet  out  to  Virginia,  on 
his  laft  trrp  to  buy  up  cam-claims  of  the  Virginia  line,  he  told 
Mr.  Hamilton,  that  Hopkins  would  not  pay  upon  thofe  pow- 
ers of  attorney  ;  and  to  which  he,  (Mr.  Hamilton)  replied*  he 
would  write  to  Hopkins,  on  the  fubje£t. 

1 6th.  Laft  night  we  waited  on  colonel  Hamilton,  when  he 
informed  us  of  a  particular  connexion  with  Mrs.  Reynolds  : 
the  period  of  its  commencement,  and  circumftances  attending 
it ;  his  vifiting  her  at  Infkeep's  ;  the  frequent  fupplies  of  mo- 
ney to  her  and  her  hu  {band,  on  that  accountj  his  durefs  by  them 
from  the  feai  w  p 

;/  /W  th*m  I  T       m  a  good  manv  newspapers  that  "  recent  F 

*  g«    '  historical  delvers  have  discovered  that  Hamilton  ^ 
letters  trpm I  had  an  affair  with  a  woman  which  troubled  him  a  [ 
He  acknow]  'good  deal  and  injured    him    politically."     It  was  ' 
poffejjton^  to]  hardly  necessary  to  delve  very  deep  to  find  out  this.  V 
fufpicions  w|  Hamilton  himself  printed  a  pamphlet  on  the  sub-  ,- 
ward  him  h  ject'  wMch  has  now  become  scarce,  but  which  most   f 
persons    interested  in  such  curious  matters  have  L 
seen.    There  is  a  copy  in  Boston,  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Charles  Sprague,  and  one  in  the  library  of  Mr. 
Wallace,  Reporter  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  and  !> 


it.     We  br 

did  he  afk 
He  faid, 


Reynolds  a 
derofa  lift 


we  think  that  the  New- York  Historical  Society  has 
one.  In  this  pamphlet  Hamilton  makes  that  full  and 
free  confession  which  is  eood  for  the  soul.  It's  a 
curious  story,  but  hardly  worth  repeating  here.  The 
gist  of  it  is,  that  while  Hamilton  admits  the  sin 
frankly,  he  vehemently  asserts  that  it  had  not,  as  his 
defamers  char#ed,  influenced  his  bestowal  of  the 
patronage  of  his  office.  The  passage  iu  which 
Hamilton  owns-  and  laments  liis  fault  is  admirably 
written. 


2i6  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Reynolds  followed  the  girl,  and  Clingman  followed  him,  He 
faw  the  girl  go  into  colonel  Hamilton's  houfe.  Clingman  then 
joined  Reynolds,  and  they  v/alked  back  and  forward  in  the 
ftreet,  until  the  girl  returned,  and  informed  Reynolds,  that  he 
need  not  go  out  of  town  that  night,  but  call  on  him  early  in  the 
morning.  In  the  morning,  between  feven  and  eight  o'clock, 
he  faw  Reynolds  go  to  colonel  Hamilton's  houfe,  and  go  in. 
He  has  not  feen  him  fince,  and  fuppofes,  he  is  gone  out  of 
town. 

Mr.  Clingman  further  adds,  that  fometimeago  he  was  in- 
formed by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds,  that  he  had  books  contain- 
ing the  amount  of  the  cafh  due  to  the  Virginia  line  at  his  own 
houfe  at  New-York,  with  liberty  to  copy,  and  were  obtain- 
ed through  Mr.  Duer. 

The  above  contains  the  truth,  to  the  beftof  my  knowledge 
and  recollection,  and  to  which  I  am  ready  to  make  oath. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  I3th  December,  1792. 

(Signed,)  JACOB  CLINGMAN. 


'  (No.  V.) 

Philadelphia,   i$tb  December,   1792. 

Mr.  Clingman  informs  us,  that  Mr.  Reynolds  returned  to 
town,  on  Thurfday  night,  and  told  him,  he  had  written  him  a  let- 
ter which  he  then  had  ;  not  having  had  an  opportunity  to  fend 
it  to  him,  and  which  he  then  tore;  part  of  which  was  throxvn  in- 
to the  fire.  Other  parts  he  prefented  to  us,  and  which  we  now 
have. 

That  Reynolds,  at  the  fame  time,  told  him,  he  had  been  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  morning  of  that  day,  when  they 
parted,  about  funrife.  That  he  was  extremely  agitated,  walk- 
ing backward  and  forward  the  room,  andftrlklng,  alternately, 
'his  forehead  and  his  thigh  ;  obferving  to  him,  that  he  had  ene- 
mies at  work,  but  was  willing  to  meet  them,  on  fair  ground, 
and  requejted  him  not  to  ft  ay  long,  lejl  It  might  be  noticed* 

Mr.  Clingman  alfo  informs  us,  that  he  received  a  note  from 
Mr.  Wolcot,  to  meet  him,  on  Friday  morning,  at  half  paft  nine 
(which  note  we  have).  That  he  attended,  and  had  an  inter- 
view with  him,  in  prefence  of  Mr.  Hamilton;  when  he' was 
ftri&ly  examined  by  both,  refpe&ing  the  perfons,  who  were  en- 
quiring into  the  matter,  and  their  obj eel: ;  that  he  told  Mr. 
Hamilton,  he  had  been  pofiefied  of  his  notes  to  Reynolds,  and 


UNITED    STATES.  217 

had  given  them  up  to  thefe  gentlemen:  and  to  which, he  re- 
plied, he  had  done  very  wrong.  That  he  alfo  told  Mr.  Ha- 
milton of  the  letter  he  had  received  from  Reynolds,  fmce  his 
enlargement,  mentioning  that  he  (Mr.  Hamilton)  would  make 
Francis  fwear  back  what  he  had  faid  ;  and  to  which  Mr.  Ha- 
milton replied,  he  would  make  him  unfay  any  falfity  he  had 
declared. 

Mr.  Hamilton  faid,  Reynolds  was  a  villain,  arafcal,  arid  he 
fuppofed,  would  fwear  to  any  thing. 

Mr.  Wolcot  faid,  tha.t  unlefs  Clingman  ufed  the  fame  can- 
dour to  him,  that  he  had  done  to  Clingman,  he  fhould  not  con- 
fider  himfelf  bound. 

Mr.  Hamilton  wanted  to  know,  what  members  of  Congrefs 
were  concerned  in  the  enquiry,  and  defired  him  to  go  into  the 
gallery,  where  he  would  fee  them,  and  enquire  their  names  of 
the  byftanders. 

Mr.  Hamilton  obferved,  he  had  had  fome  tranfaclrion  with 
Reynolds,  which  he  had  before  mentioned,  as  well  as  Clingmaa 
remembers,  to  Mr.  Wolcot,  and  need  not  go  into  detail. 

Glingman  alfo  informs  us,  that  Reynolds  told  him,  fmce  his 
enlargement,  that  when  he  was  about  tofet  out  to  Virginia,  on 
his  laft  trip  to  buy  up  cam-claims  of  the  Virginia  line,  he  told 
Mr.  Hamilton,  that  Hopkins  would  not  psy  upon  thofe  pow- 
ers of  attorney  ;  and  to  which  he,  (Mr.  Hamilton)  replied*  he 
would  write  to  Hopkins,  on  the  fubjecl:. 

i6th.  Laft  night  we  waited  on  colonel  Hamilton,  when  he 
informed  us  of  a  particular  connection  with  Mrs.  Reynslds  : 
the  period  of  its  commencement,  and  circumftances  attending 
it ;  his  vifiting  her  at  Infkeep's  ;  the  frequent  fupplies  of  mo- 
ney to  her  and  her  hufband,  on  that  account ;  his  durefs  by  them 
from  the  fear  of  a  difclofure,  and  bis  anxiety  to  be  relieved  from 
it  and  them.  To  fupport  this,  he  fhewed  a  great  number  of 
letters  from  Reynolds  a»d  herfelf,  commencing  early  in  1791. 
He  acknowledged  all  the  letters  in  a  difguifed  hand,  in  our 
poffej/ion^  to  be  his.  We  left  him  under  an  impreffion,  our 
fufpicions  were  removed.  He  acknowledged  our  conduct  to- 
ward him  had  been  fair  and  liberal :  he  could  not  complain  of 
it.  We  brought  back  all  the  papers,  even  his  own  notes,  nor 
did  he  afk  their  deftruclion. 

He  faid,  the  dtfmiilion  of  the  profecution  againft  the  parties, 
Reynolds  and  Clingman,  had  been  in  confideration  of  a  furren- 
ilerofa  lift  of  pay  improperly  obtained  from  his  office,  and  by 

F  f 


Ky" ji> 


2i8  HISTORY   OF   THE 

means  of  a  perfbn,  who  had  it  not  in  his  power  now  to  injure 
the  department,  intimating  he  meant  Duer  :  that  he  obtained 
this  information  from  Reynolds ;  owned  that  he  had  received 
a  note  from  Reynolds  in  the  night,  at  the  time  ftated  in  Mr. 
Clingman's  paper,  and  that  he  had  likewife  feen  him  in  the 
morning  following :  faid,  he  never  had  feen  Reynolds  be- 
fore he  came  to  this  place  ;  and  that  the  ftatement  in  Mr. 
Clingman's  paper,  in  that  refpedl:,  was  correct. 

(Signed,)  JAMES  MONROE. 

ABRAHAM  VENABLE- 
F.  A.  MUHLENBERG. 


January  zdy  1793.  Mr.  Clingman  called  on  me,  this  even- 
ing, and  mentioned,  that  he  had  been  apprifed  of  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton's vindication,  by  Mr.  Wolcott,  a  day  or  two  after  our 
interview  with  him.  He  farther  obferved  to  me,  that  he  com- 
municated the  fame  to  Mrs.  Reynolds,  who  appeared  much 
Jhocked  at  tf,  and  wept  immoderately.  That  fhe  denied  the 
imputation,  and  declared,  that  it  had  been  a  fabrication  of  colonel 
Hamilton,  and  that  her  huiband  had  joined  in  it,  who  had  told 
tierfoy  and  that  he  had  given  him  receipts  for  money  and  writ- 
ten letters,  fo  as  to  give  countenance  to  the  pretence.  That 
he  was  with  colonel  Hamilton,  the  day  after  he  left  the  jail, 
when  we  fuppofed  he  was  in  Jerfey.  He  was  of  opinion  {he 
was  innocent,  and  that  the  defence  was  an  impofition. 

(Signed,)  JAMES  MONROE. 

(No.  VI.) 
LETTERS    FK.OM   COLONEL  HAMILTON  TO   JAMES 

REYNOLDS,   REFERRED  TO  IN  No.  III. 
Endorfement  on  the  parcel,  in  the  hand-writing 
of  Reynolds,     "  From  Secortary  Hamilton,  efq.*" 

lo-morrow  what  is  requejled  -will  be  done.  Twill 
hardly  be  pqffible  to  day* 

[This  card  has  neither  date  nor  addrefs.  It  is  in 
a  kind  of  character,  half  print,  half  manufcript-  It 
was  admitted  as  his  own  by  the  fecretary.] 

*  The  loofe  paper  on  which  thefe  words  are  written,  Is  itfeU 
part  tffomeitfreyedb&r  from  Mr,  Hamilton^  for  it  has  o»  chc  op- 


UNITED   STATES.  219 

It  is  utterly  tint  of  my  power  I  ajjure  you,  PON 
my  honour,  to  comply  with  your  requeft.  Tour  note 
is  returned. 

[This  is  the  cardreferred  to  in  No.  IV.  being  the 
anfwer  to  a  requefl  from  Reynolds,  of  money  to  fub- 
fcribe  for  the  Lancafter  turnpike.  It  has  neither 
date  nor  addrefs  ;  but  muft  have  been  written  about 
the  month  of  June,  1792.  On  what  ground  could 
Reynolds  pretend  to  make  fuch  applications  to  a 
perfon  fo  far  above  his  rank  ?  The  gentle  tone  of 
the  refufal,  alfo,  deferves  notice.  It  exprefsly  im- 
plies a  high  degree  of  previous  intimacy.  The 
fwiple  affurance  of  inability  was  not  enough.  Mr*. 
Hamilton  declares  PON  HIS  HONOUR,  that  it  is  not 
merely  out  of  his  power,  but  UTTERLY,  &c.  How 
generous  !  How  magnanimous  this  language  of  the 
ex-fecretary  !  efpecially  when  he  wrote  to  a  being 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  threatening  to  bring  him 
to  difgrace.  If  the  ftatement  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  as 
to  Mrs.  Reynolds,  had  been  true,  fhe  mufl  have  coil 
him,  in  whole,  a  {mart  fum.  In  No.  IV.  fhe  fays, 
that  herhufband  had,  fometime  before,  frc  received 
"  upwards  of  eleven  hundred  dollars  of  colonel 
"Hamilton."  A  {hare  in  the  Lancafter  turnpike 
coft  three  hundred  dollars  ;  and  though,  in  this  re- 
quell,  Reynolds  did  not  fucceed,  yet  £b  extenilve  a 
fcale  of  application  (hews,  that  he  had.  been  in  the 
habit  of  receiving,  or  at  lead  of  expecting,  to  a  cen- 
iiderable  amount.  In  the  fame  number  it  appears, 
that  Clingman  was  almoft  an  eye  witnefs  to  there^ 
ceipt,  by  Reynolds,  of  a  large  fbmfrom  Mr.  Hamii* 
ton.  No.  IV.  alfo,  fhews,  that  Mrs.  Reynolds,  du* 
ring  the,  confinement  of  her  hulband,  received  mo- 
ney from  our  fecretary  ;  and  in  Na.  IIL  when  Mr. 


pofite  fide,  in  his  «ff<^£&^.  hand-writhg,  this  addrefs,  as  the  ba«k 
of  a  letter  :   "  Mr.  James  Reyn^s," 


220  HISTORY    OF    THE 

Hamilton  wanted  to  get  rid  of  thefe  people,  he  of- 
fered, if  they  would  leave  thefe  parts,  not  to  be  Jeen 
here  again,  to'  give  SOMETHING  CLEVER.  By  the 
way,  this  was  not  the  language  of  a  lover.  If  the 
colonel  was  tired  he  might  have  quitted  the  lady 
with  lefs  ceremony.  We  proceed  to  the  third  card.] 


DOLLARS.  They  could  not  befent 
fooner. 

AddrefTed  on  the  back,  Mr.  James  Reynolds. 

[This  letter  has  neither  date,  nor  fubfcription  ; 
and  is  in  the  feigned  hand  of  the  two  former.  The 
addrefs  is  in  a  counterfeit  hand,  of  a  different  kind  ; 
but  refembling  that  of  the  Jeer  etary.~\ 

My  Dear  Sir, 

I  expelled  to  have  heared  the  day  after  I  had  the 
fleajure  of  feeing  you. 

[This  is  in  Mr.  Hamilton's  common  hand.  It  has 
no  date  or  fignature.  The  addrefs,  if  it  had  any, 
has  been  torn  away.] 

*The  per/on  Mr.  Reynolds  enquired  for  on  Fridayy 

WAITED  FOR  HIM    ALL    THE  EVENING,  at  his    houfe, 

from  a  little  after  J  even  —  Mr.  R*  mayjee  him  at  any 
time  to-day,  or  to-morrow,  bet-ween  the  hours  of  two 
&nd  three. 

Mr.  Reynolds.  Monday* 

[The  above,  and  its  addrefs,  are  in  the  feigned 
hand.  So  much  correfpondence  could  not  refer  ex- 
elufively  to  wenching.  No  man  of  common  fenfe 
will  believe  that  it  did.  Hente  it  muft  have  im- 
plicated fome  connexion  flill  more  di(horiourable> 
in  Mr,  Hamilton's  eyes,  than  that  of  incontinency. 
Reynolds  and  his  wife  affirm  that  it  reipecled  cer- 
tificate {peculations*  The  folicitu.de  of  Mr.  Ha~ 


UNITED    STATES.  221 

milton  to  get  theie  people  out  of  the  way,  is  quite 
contradictory  to  an  amorous  attachment  for  Mrs. 
Reynolds,  and  befpeaks  her  innocence  in  the  clear- 
eft  ftile.  The  following  is  the  torn  letter  refer- 
red to,  in  the  beginning  of  No.  V.  It  is  in  the  fame 
hand  writing  with  the  indorfement  a,bove  quoted 
on  the  parcel  of  letters,  and  merits  particular  atten- 
tion.] 

Thurfday,  one  o'clock,  1 3th  December,  1 792*. 
MY  DEAR  M.  CLINGMAN, 

7  hope  I  have  not  forfeited  your  friendfliip,  the  lafl 
night's  converfation,  dont  think  anything  of  it,  for  I 
was  not  my/elf*  /  know  I  have  treated******** 
friend  ill,  and  too  -well  I  am  convinjed  [Here  about 
three  lines  are  torn  out.]  to  have  fatis faction  from 
HIM  at  all  events,  and  you  onely  I  truji  too.  I  'will 

SEE  YOU  THIS  EVENING.  HE  HAS  OFFERED  TO 
FURNISH  ME  AND  MRS.  REYNOLDS  WITH  MONEY 

TO  CARRY  us  OFF.   If  I  will  go,  he  willjee  that  Mrs. 
Reynolds  has  money  to  follow  me,  and  as  for  Mr. 
Francis,  he  fas  he  will  make  him /wear  back  what  he 
has  f aid,  and  will  turn  him  out  of  office^.  'This  is  all  I    * 
can  Jay  till  I  fee  you . 

I  am,  dear  Clingman,  believe  me,  forever  your 
fincere  friend, 

J4MES  RErNOLDS. 

Mr.  Jacob  Clingman. 

Here  the  ftory  comes  to  a  crifis.  Reynolds,  a 
man  of  a  bad  character,  and  dependent  circum- 
flances,had  been  caft  into  jail  for  an  offence  of  a  very 
deep  dye,  and  which,  as  it  appears,  could  have  been 
fixed  upon  him.  Inftead  of  comporting  himfelf  with 

*  Reynolds  got  out  of  prifon,  on  Wednefday  evening,  the  i2th 
of  December.  See  No.  iv. 

+  The  Secretary  kept  his  word.  The  perfon  here  meant  was  d*f- 
charged  from  the  treafury  office. 


222  HISTORY   OF   THE 

that  humility  fuitablc  to  a  iituation  apparently  fo  def- 
perate,  he  ipeaks  of  nothing  eife  but  ruining  and 
hanging  Mr.  Hamilton,  who,  the  Prefident  ex- 
cepted,was  the  moft  powerful  and  dangerous  enemy 
that  he  could  have  met  with  on  the  whole  continent. 
This  was  not,  certainly,  an  obvious  way  to  get  out 
of  prifon.  He  had  been  profecuted  by  the  Comptrol- 
ler, Mr.  Wolcot,  with  whom  he  found  no  blame  ; 
but  he  affirmed,  that  it  was  a  fcheme  of  the  fecre- 
tary  to  keep  him  low^  and  drive  him  away.  Even  ad- 
mitting that  his  wife  was  the  favourite  of  Mr.  Ha- 
milton, for  which  there  appears  no  evidence  but 
the  word  of  the  fccretary,  this  conduct  would  have 
been  eminently  foolifli.  Mr.  Hamilton  had  only 
to  fay,  that  he  was  fick  of  his  amour,  and  the  influ- 
ence and  hopes  of  Reynolds  .q.t  once  vamftied.  Our 
Secretary  was  far  above  the  Ye#--,h.  of  his  revenge. 
The  accufation  of  an  illicft  arnoi.r,  though  founded 
in  notes  louder  than  the  laft  trumpet,  could  not 
have  defamed  the  conjugal  fidelity  of  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton. It  would  only  have  been  holding  a  farthing 
candle  to  the  fun.  On  that  point,  the  world  had  pre- 
vioufly  fixed  its  opinion.  In  the  fecretary's  bucket 
of  chaflity,  a  drop  more  or  lefs  was  not  to  be  per- 
ceived. If  Reynolds  had  no  claim  to  regard  but  in 
one  of  the  capacities  of  Mercury,  his  accufations 
and  his  threats  were  more  than  folly.  They  were 
fynommous  to  lunacy. 

Grounding  merely  on  the  procuring  fyftem,  the 
forbearance  of  Mr.  Hamilton  is  equally  inexplica- 
ble. The  natural  temper  of  our  fecretary,  where 
he  ventures  to  exert  it,  is  vindictive  and  furious*, 
combining  cc  that  unufual  mixture  of  quick  feroci- 
tc  ty  and  unrelenting  vengeance,"  which  Mr.  Hume 
has  marked  out  as  a  peculiarity  in  the  character  of. 


*  See  Findley  and  8;ackenridge>  pa 


UNITED   STATES. 

Charles  the  ninth*.  That  fuch  a  man^  or  indeed 
that  any  man  (hould  tamely  endure,  this  treatment 
is  in  itfelf  highly  incredible.  No  tranfient  attach- 
ment, fuch  as  that  which  the  fecretary  alledged  that 
he  had,, could  have  been  put  in  the  balance  againft 
his  official  character  ;  and  from  the  time  that  Mr. 
Monroe  and  the  other  gentlemen  faw  Reynolds,  his 
reputation  was  evidently  at  flake. 

In  No.  V.  Clingman  fays,  that  he  received  a  note 
from  Mr.  Wolcot  to  call  911  him.  It  is  in  thefe 
words. 

Mr.  Wolcott  will  be  glad  to  fee  Mr.  Clingman  to- 
morrow, at  half  after  nine  o'clock. 
Thurj'day. 

At  this  meeting,  Clingman  fays  that  he  was  finely 
examined  by  Meffrs.  Wolcot  and  Hamilton,  refpec- 
ting  the  perfons  who  were  enquiring  into  the  matter, 
and  their  object.  If 'every  thing  was  found  at  bot- 
tom Mr.  Hamilton,  might  have  held  fuch  perfons 

*  The  feelings  of  Mr.  Hamilton  may  bs  eftimated  by  the  tone 
of  the  hireling  writers  of  his-party  ;  and  (hew  how  little  quarter  he 
or  they  are  entitled  to*  William  Cobbett,  in  hisCenforfbr  March 
1 797,  defcribes  Mr.  Monroe  as "  a  traitor,  who  has  bartered  the  hd- 
"  nour  and  intereft  of  his  country,  to  a  perfidious  and  favage  enemy." 
Meffrs.  Muhlenberg,  Jefferfon,  Swanwick,  Giles,  Madifon,  Gallatin, 
Mr.  Tench  Coxe,  and  others,  are  all  fpoken  of  in  the  fame  fcurri- 
lous  way,  without  the  leaft  regard  to  truth  or  decency.  What  could 
ail  this  writer  at  Dr.  Rulh  ?  That  gentleman  has  long  fince  quitted 
politics,  and  his  philofophical  works  are  better  known  and  more 
highly  refpe'fted  in  Europe,  than  thofe  of  any  writer  whom  the  new 
world  has  produced,  Franklin  or  Jefferfon's  notes  excepted. 

This  man  does  not  write  at  random.  His  enemies  laughed  at  him 
for  boafting  of  intimacy  with  fome  of  the  firft  characters  in  this  coun- 
try. He  fpoke  only  ti;uth.  Not  long  fince,  Mr.  Lifton,  the  Bri- 
tilh  ambafTador,  came  d\)wn  North  Second-ftreet,  paft  by  tbe  door 
of  his  ftore,  looked  carefully  around  him,  as  if  to  fee  whether  he 
wasobferved,  then  turned  back  and  went  in.  Two  days  after  he 
was  in  the  fame  ftore:  and,  no  doubt  his  excellency  derives  mu<h 
improvement  fifoui  this  elegant  and  dignified  c.onnehion> 


224  HISTORY    OF   THE 

and  fuch  enquiries  in  defiance.  The  following 
letter,  the  laft  in  the  order  of  thefe  pieces,  is  from 
Mr.  Hamilton  himfelf. 

Philadelphia^  Dec ember ',  1792. 
Gentlemen^ 

ON  reflexion,  I  deem  it  advifeable  for  me  to  have  copies  of 
the  feveral  papers  which  you  communicated  to  me  in  our  in- 
ter view  on  Saturday  evening,  including  the  notes,  and  the  frag- 
ment of  Mr.  Reynold's  letter  to  Mr.  Clingman.  I  therefore 
requeft  that  you  will  either  caufe  copies  of  thefe  papers  to  be 
furnimed  to  me,  taken  by  the  perfon  in  whofe  hand  writing  the 
declarations  which  you  {hewed  to  me  were,  or  will  let  me  have 
the  papers  themfelves  to  be  copied.  It  is  alfo  my  wifh,  that 
all  fuch  papers  as  are  original,  may  be  detained  from  the  par- 
ties of  whom  they  were  had,  to  put  it  out  of  their  power  to 
repeat  the  abufe  of  them  in  fituations  which  may  deprive  me  of 
the  advantage  of  explanation.  Confidering  of  how  abomina- 
ble an  attempt  they  have  been  the  inftruments,  I  truft  you 
will  feel  nofcruples  about  this  detention. 
With  confideration, 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  fervant, 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
F.  Auguflus  Mughknbergh^~\ 
James  Msnroe,  and  >    Efquires, 

Abraham  fonabley  J 

AddrefTed  on  the  back  thus.  "  Frederick  A, 
Mughlenbergh,  efquire" 

The  above  letter,  clofes  the  collection  of  papers 
regarding  this  affair  of  Key nolds .  It  only  remains 
to  make  fome  obfervations ;  and  thefe  demand  a 
retrofpecl. 

If  we  conflder  the 'magnitude  of  the  object  be- 
fore them,  it  was  highly  commendable  in  the  gen- 
tlemen concerned  in  thefe  enquiries  to  trace  the 
matter  as  clofely  as  they  did.  The  funding  of  cer- 
tificates to  the  extent  of  perhaps  thirty,  or  thirty- 
iive  millions  of  dollars,  at  eight  times  the  price 


UNITED    STATES.  22^ 

which  the  holders  had  actually  paid  for  them,  pre- 
fents,  in  itfelf,  one  of  the  moft  egregious,  the  mod 
impudent,  the  moil  oppre/Tive,  and  the  moft  provo- 
king bubbles  that  ever  burlefqued  the  legislative 
proceedings  of  any  nation.  The  debt  ^at  could 
have  been  dilcharged  for  ten  or  fifteen  millions  of 
dollars,  was  funded  at  forty  millions. 

But  as  the  univerfal  fuipicion  and  hatred  which 
the  formation  of  this  mafs  had  excited,  might,  at  fome 
future  period,  endanger  its  exiftence,  the  aiTump- 
tion  acl,  was  brought  forward.  This  law  incor- 
porated into  the  former  flock  thofe  debts  contrac- 
ted by  individual  flates  during  the  war.  Hence  each 
of  them  became,  for  its  own  fake,  interefted  in  the 
fnpport  of  public  credit  which  implicated  a  rid- 
dance of  the  debt  efpecially  due  by  itfelf.  Thus 
the  certificate  funds  were  infeparably  embodied 
with  a  powerful  and  popular  ally,  under  the 
flicker  of  whofe  reputation  they  might  hope  for 
fome  degree  of  longevity.  This  artful  meafure 
was  puflied  through  Congrefs  by  the  fame  party, 
who  funded  the  half-crown  certificates  at  twenty 
millings.  But,  even  in  this  projecl,  it  is  entertaining 
to  notice  the  blindnefs  and  precipitation  of  confci- 
ous  guilt.  The  paper-jobbing  junto  were  in  fuch 
a  hurry  to  fhelter  their  {peculations  under  the  wings 
of  the  above  aflumption  law,  that  the^afted  the 
meafure  in  the  mofl  profligate  or  bungling  manner 
which  can  be  imagined.  Take  notice  !  They  pled- 
ged the  public  faith  for  twenty-two  millions  of  dol- 
lars, inflead  of  eleven  millions* ;  for,  the  latter imu 

"  *  The  accounts  of  the  uniop  with  the  Individual  flates  might 
"  have  been  placed  in  the  fame  relative  fituation  in  which  they  now 
"  ftand,  by  aflu ruing  eleven  millions,  inftead  of  twenty-two.  The 
"  additional  and  unneceflary  debt,  created  by  that  fatal  meafure, 
"  amounts,  therefore,  to  ten  millions  eight  hundred  and  eighty -thre;^ 
"  th:ufand,fix  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dcllars^  and  fifty-eight  a'..'-/' 
Ga.llatin,p,  107, 

G  g 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

would  have  fettled  the  claims,  if  a  reaibnable  de- 
gree of  time,  of  judgment,  or  of  method  had  been 
employed  upon  it.  This  work  was  the  very  pin- 
nacle of  flupidity,  or  knavery,  pr  probably  of  both. 
Suppofe  thjtf  you  lee  a  man  go  into  a  ftore,  and  buy 
ten  fhillings  worth  of  linen.  He  receives  the  cloth; 
flings  clown  a  guinea,  and  runs  away  without  wai- 
ting for  his  change.  You  will  infer  that  he  is  ei- 
ther circulating  falie  money,  or  has  deferted  from 
bedlam.  Yet  fuch  is  preciiely  the  profile  view  of 
this  alTumption  srct.  It  is  natural  that  Dr.  Smith 
ihould  be  foncl  of  calling  Americans  the  mod  intel- 
ligent of  mankind,  when  his  party  have  made  them 
fuch  egregious  dupes.  Thus,  the  founder  of  fome 
new  feet  in  religion,  while  cramming  the  cars  of 
his  clifciples  with  vifions  and  miracles,  affures  them 
that  they  are  the  chofen  people.  In  both  inftan- 
ces  the  encomiafl.  holds  in  his  eye  the  very  fame  ob- 
ject. As  for  the  ilate  of  public  information,  it  is 
likely  that  not  more  than  one-tenth  part  of  our  ci- 
tizens recolle<ft  or  have  heard  any  thing  of  the  a£- 
fumption  act.  Not  one  out  of  five  thoufand  people 
is  acquainted  with  this  blafHng  blunder,  about  the 
eleven  millions  being  funded  at  twenty-two. 

This  is  a  profile  view  of  the  affumption  act.  But 
when  we  look  Itraight  into  its  face,  fraud,  anarchy, 
and  rebellion,  are  feen  indelibly  engraved  on  its 
forehead.  Witnefs  the  debates  of  laft  winter  in 
Congrefs,  about  the  balance  due  from  New- York  to 
the  union !  A  fpark  a  thoufand  times  fmaller,  has, 
before  now,  involved  half  the  world  in  conflagra- 
tion. This  act  is  like  an  ulcer  in  the  midriff  of  Ame- 
rican tranquillity.  To  paint  its  poiiible  effects 
would  require  the  eloquence  of  Milton  defcribing 
the  conqrefs  of  Death  and  Sin. 

The  bank  of  the  United  States  was  another  but- 
trefi  railed  to  prop  the  rampart  of  corruption. 


UNITED    STATES.  227 

This  institution,  andtheirrefiilible  influence  which 
it  draw?,  after  it,  afford  a  ftriking  evidence  of  the  da- 
ring and  profound  genius  of  its  author .  By  what 
claufe  of  the  constitution  Congrefs  thought  t: 
ieives  puthcrifed  to  turn  bankers,  they  1)  ;  ;t 
yet  informed  the  public.  From  any  thing  which 
appears  on  the  face  of  that  inftrument,  they 
had  no  more  warrant  for  erecting  banks  than 
for  creeling  pyramids.  Their  plea,  that  the 
inftitution  was  to  be  of  national  benefit,  dc.^s  not 
form  a  proper  apology.  It  v/ould  have  been  bet- 
ter to  tell  the  real  motive,  which  wa^  that  the  lea- 
ders of  a  majority  in  Congrefs  expe&e'dthe  fcheme 
to  ifTue  in  perfonal  advantage  to  themfelves.  The 
report  of  Mr.  Hamilton  to  Congrefs,  on  this  bank> 
promifed  mighty  matters  which  have  never  <  ome 
to  pafs.  But  the  grand  point,  the  bracing _of.i;  ? 
funding  fyftern,  has  been  completely  fecure.',  "he 
city  of  Wafhirigton  ihall  be  juft  mention 
quietus  to  the  honeft  credulity  of  the  Prelu 
Millions  have  been  worfe  than  idly  funk  upon  th  t; 
ipot,  which,  if  government  removes  to  it,  may  be 
fafely  predicted  as  the  tomb  of  the  federal  conla- 
tution. 

The  refult  of  all  thefe  meafures  hath  been  a  pub- 
Jic  debt  of  eighty  millions,  inftead  of  thirty  ;  a  re- 
publican government  harnafled  in  a  monarchical  fac- 
tion ]  a  continent  overwhelmed  with  paper  money, 
with  jobs,  and  bankruptcies,-  of  a  nature  and  fpecies 
of  infamy  almoft  unknown  in  Europe*  ;  the  price 
doubled  on  every  article  of  living ;  a  commerce  in- 

*  See,  for  example,  the  polite  correfpondence  between  Mr.  Jamea 
Greenleaf  and  Mr.  John  Nicholfon,  that  hath  fo  long  blockaded 
the  newfpapers.  Sometime  ago,  bills  of  a  merchant  in  this  city 
\vere  advertifed  for  fale,  by  au£ion«  to  the  amount  of  about  four 
hundred  thoufand  dollars.  Thefe  things  make  a  pcrfon  from  the  old 
•world  to  fta re.,  but  American*,  perhaps,  kao^r  bct'.er, 


228  HISTORY    OF    THE 

fulted  and  within  fight  of  ruin  ;  a  public  treafury 
without  money,  and  without  credit  ;  and  laft  and 
worft,  a  fquadron  of  legiflative  confpirators,  in 
the  fifth  Congrefs,  who,  by  every  infidious  artifice, 
and  every  unbluftiing  effort,  pant  and  toil  to  bury 
their  country  in  aBritifh  alliance  and  a  French  war. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Farther  obfervations   on  the  correspondence  between 
Mefjrs.   Hamilton  and  Reynolds  .—Singular  mode 
ofjecrecy  in  framing  the  federal  conftitution,  and 
of  difciiiling  Jay's  ^treaty.— Defence   of  General 
Ma/bn'.— Report  to  Prcfident   Adams,   by    Mr. 
Pickering,  on  French  captures. — Singular  Jtyle  of 
that  paper. — Defamatory  charge  by  Judge  Ire  dell 
to  a  ?r and  jury   in   Virginia.— Their  pitiful  pre- 
fentment.— Defence  of  Mr.  Cabell.— Curious  let- 
ter to  Mr.   John   Beckley. — Observations^  on  the  ^ 
PURITY  of  the  federal  government. — Specimens  of 
ike  mode  of  travelling    in  America. — ^  trip  to 
New-Tor  k* 

IN  his  letter  laft  copied,  Mr.  Hamilton  fpeaks  of 
an  explanation.  He  gave  nothing  meriting  that 
name.  Thefhort  way  to  exculpate  himfelf  was,  by 
confronting  Reynolds  and  his  wife,  who  accufed 
him  of  fraud,  with  the  gentlemen  who  undertook 
the  enquiry.  Inttead  of  that,  he  fent  Reynolds  and 
his  wife  out  of  the  way,to  prevent  any  fuch  perfonal 
exculpation.  That  he  packed  them  off,  there  can 
belittle  doubt,  fmce  the  fuddenefs  of  the  difappear- 
ance  of  Reynolds  can  be  accounted  for  upon  no  other 
ground.  The  letter  from  Reynolds  to  Clingman 
mentions  a  promifdof  that  kind,  and  Mrs.  Reynolds 


UNITED    STATES.  229 

had  previonfly  declared,  that  this  \vas  a  fchenae  in 
contemplation.  Reynolds  could  not  fly  from  fear. 
The  profecution  againft  him  was  clofed,  and  his 
chief  refoarce  for  fubllfterice  had  been  by  applying 
to  Mr.  Hamilton.  That  he  was  removed,  to  keep 
him  from  a  meeting  with  Mr  .Monroe  and  his  friends, 
bears  the  ftronged  marks  of  probability.  It  may 
be  faid,  that  the  infamous  character  of  Reynolds 
made  him  unworthy  of  credit.  Taken  by  itfelf, 
his  testimony  was,  indeed,  worth  little;  but,  when 
fuppor.ted  by  various  circumftances,  it  might  me- 
rit more  attention.  The  profligate  manners  of  the 
accufer  afforded  an  additional  reafon  why  Mr.  Ha- 
milton, if  innocent,  fliould  have  brought  him  for- 
ward, iince  it  would  have  been  proportionably  a 
more  eafy  talk  to  convince  Mr.  Monroe  of  his  falfe- 
hood.  But  the  fecrctary  lealed  the  importance  of 
the  accufers  tertimony,  by  forbearing  to  produce 
him  to  the  gentlemen  enquiring  after  him.  When 
perlbns  of  fo  much  weight  and  refpeftability  had 
entered  upon  this  bufinefs,  every  principle  of  com- 
mon fenle  called  for  the  cleareft  explanation. 
In  place  of  that  the  chief  evidence  was  con- 
cealed, and  fent  off,  while  the  mafs  of  his 
correfpondence  with  Mr.  Hamilton  was,  by  defire 
of  the  latter,  abruptly  committed  to  the  flames.  You 
will  determineVhether thefe  fugitive  meafures  look 
mod  like  innocence,  or  like  fomething  elfe. 

Mr.  Hamilton,  referring  to  Reynolds  and  his 
wife,  calls  this  an  abominable  attempt.  Granted.  But, 
fince  the  meafures  of  himfelf  and  his  party,  on  the 
affair  of  certificates,  had  excited  a  very  general  and 
violent  fufpicion,  and  fince  he  well  knew  that  the 
gentlemen  who  came  forward,  were  fuppofed  to 
be  in  the  number  of  thofe  who  entertained  it,  every 
motive  of  felf-love,  and  of  zeal  for  the  honour  of  his 
partisans,  fhould  have  prompted  Mr,  Hamilton  to 


230  HISTORY  OF    THE 

tear  up  the  laft  twig  of  jealoufy.  In  place  of  {mo- 
thering teftimony,  he  fhould  have  courted  it.  in 
place  of  burning  letters, he  fhould  haw  frinted  them. 
Publicity  was  the  only  balis  by  which  he  could  main- 
tain the  ground  that  he  was  in  danger  of  lofing.  Yet 
this  was  the  very  mode  of  defence  which  he  chofe  to 
avoid. WhenRandolph  was  arraigned  of  mifcon duel: 
not  more  culpable  than  that  imputed  by  Reynolds  to 
Hamilton,  he  purfued  the  accufer  to  Rhode-Hi  and, 
;rnd  obtained  a  certificate  of  his  innocence,  couched 
in  the  ftrongefl  terms.  Yet  the  federal  party,  with 
t:heir  ufual  fortitude  of  afTertion,  and  infelicity  of  de~ 
monftration,  have  loaded  him  writh  reproaches,  and 
the  bare  fuppofition  of  the  poflibillly  of  his  innocen  c  e, 
has-been  fcouted  as  the  height  of  effrontery.  Pat 
the  cafe  that  Fauchet,  when  his  apocrypha  was  in- 
tercepted, had  been  in  jail,  that  Randolph,  inflead 
of  bringing  him  forward  had  paid  his  debts,  burnt 
all  his  remaining  papers,  and  hurried  him  out  of  the 
country.  Every  friend  to  order ;,  would  have  been 
convinced  that  Randolph  was  guilty,  "and  had  re- 
moved Fauchet,  that <c  the  pool  of  corruption  might 
cc  putrifyin  peace*."  The  force  of  moral  or  pre- 
fumptive  teftimony  does  not  augment  or  diminish, 
becaufe  the  party  accufecl  happens  to  be  for  or  a- 
gainft  the  American  funding  fyftem. 

Some  years  ago,  the  late  President  was  attacked  in 
the  newfpapers  for  condantly  uplifting  his  falary,  be- 
fore it  became  due.  Mr.  Hamilton  immediately  prin- 
ted ^a  reply  that  filled  nine  columns  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Gazette.  Even  the  very  worfl  which  could  be 
alledged  of  Mr.  Wafhington  amounted  only  to  this 
practice  being  irregular,  improper,  and  fuper-emi- 
nently  ridiculous  from  a  man  who  pretended  to  do 
the  bufinefs  of  his  country  for  his  mere  houfhold 

*  Robert  Hall,  on  the  liberty  of  the  prefs,. 


UNITED  STATES. 
expcnces.  The  chai'ge  of  Reynolds  wears  a  more 
ferious  afpcft.  If  he  was  one  agent  for  the  pur- 
chaie  of  certificates,  it  may  well  be  conceived, 
though  it  cannot  yet  be  proved,  that  our  fecretary 
had  twenty  others.  Phyfician  !  heal  thyfelf.  Before 
Mr.  Hamilton  prints  any  farther  defences  of  other 
people,  before  he  again  arraigns  one-half  of  his  fel- 
low citizens  as  cut-throats*,  let  him  tell  us  what  has 
become  of  Reynolds.  Let  him  obferve  that  this  nar- 
rative is  explicit  ;  and  that,  under  all  the  circum- 
ftances  of  the  affair,  filence  will  be  more  fatal  to 
his  character,  than  the  moft  feeble  vindication. 

It  is  eafy  to  fee  why  Mr.  Hamilton,  and  his  par- 
ty, have  been  permitted  to  reduce  America  to  its 
prefent  cliiagreeable  condition.  When  a  merchant 
refufes  not  only  to  balance  his  books,  but  vilifies  thole 
who  advife  him  to  do  fo,  it  requires  no  ghofl  from  the 
dead,  to  foretell  for  what  port  he  is  bound.  In  pri- 
vate life,  it  is  hardly  poffible  to  find  fuch  a  fool; 
but  nations  are  fometimes  actuated  by  a  degree  of 
madnefs  to  which,  in  their  individual  concerns,  it 
would-be  im  practicable  to  drive  them.  Of  this  re- 
mark, America,  during  the  fliort  period  of  her  po- 
litical career,  has  afforded  various  examples.  The 
people  of  other  countries  are  Ignorant  againft  their 
will.  The  citizens  of  the  United  States  appear  of- 
ten averfe,  and  even  hoftile  to  information.  Thus, 
the  federal  conffition,  highly  refpeclable  and  valu- 
able as  truth  mufl  acknowledge  it  to  be,  was  yet  an. 
instrument  framed  in  darknefs*  When  the  conven- 
tion who  made  it  met  at  Philadelphia,  they  began 
by  fhutting  their  doors.  This  clandeftine  appear- 
ance exhibited  the  worft  auguries  imaginable  of 
what  they  were  going  to  do.  Though  they  had  to 
frame  a  conftitution,  yet,  before  it  could  take  effect 

*  See  Americau  Annual  Regi'der,  cbap.  x. 


232  HISTORY    OF    THE 

it  was  to  be  fubmitted,  feperately,  to  each  of  the 
thirteen  flates.  To  afftfl  the  citizens  at  large  in 
forming  their  opinions,  the  fafeft  an dfaireil  method 
was  to  have  debated  with  open  galleries.  If  the 
arguments  that  fwayed  thedecifion  of  the  delegates 
were  well-founded,  they  might  have  had  the  fame 
effect  on  their  conflituents*.  But,  to  immure  them- 
felves  in  the  way  in  which  they  did,  looked  more 
like  a  Venetian  fenate,  a  gang  of  finugglers  or  coiners, 
than  the  Reprefentatives  of  a  free  people.  The  long 
parliament  of  England  would  never  have  obtained 
the  confidence  of  their  party,  they  could  never  have 
overturned  royal  deipotifm,  if  they  had  kept  their 
proceedings  and  debates  a  fecret  from  the  world. 
In  England,  a  Itate-trial  muft  be  carried  on  in  pub- 
lic. The  fplrit  of  the  country  would  not  endure 
the  concealment  of  fuch  a  tranfadtion.  In  the 
courfe  of  ordinary  affairs,  the  prefentHoufe  of  Com- 
mons do  not  fhut  their  doors  above  once  in  feveral 
years.  But  the  framing  of  a  conftitution  is  of  in- 
finitely more  importance  than  the  ullial  routine  of 
budneis  ;  the  Eiiglilh  people  would  not,  on  fuch  an 
emergency,  fubmit  to  exclufion.  The  Scots  union 
wris  previously  known  to  be  detefted  by  cdl  ranks 
of  people  ;  and  brought  the  country  to  the  brink 
of  a  revolution.  Yet  the  Scots  parliament  debated 

*  We  have  not  entirely  forgot  the  mode  in  which  the  federal  con- 
ftitution was  crammed  down  the  gullet  of  Pennfylvania.  When  it  firft 
appeared,  the  affembly  were  in  iei'iion.  A  minority  declined  accep- 
tance, bccaufethey  had  nofpecial  powers  to  that  purpofe  from  their 
electors  ;  and,  to  prevent  its  py fling,  they  feceded  from  the  houfe. 
The  remaining  members  did  not  form  a  quorum.  Here  they  would 
have  (luck,  but  the  friends  of  order)  alias,  a  troop  of  ruffians, with  the 
captain  of  a  very  modern  frigate  at  their  head,  broke  iuto  the  lodg- 
ings of  fome  feceding  members,  feized  them,  dragged  them  through 
the  ftreets,  with  one-half  of  Philadelphia  at  their  heels,  and,  by  main 
force,  projected  them  into  .the  affembly.  Thus  a  quorum  was  for- 
•racd,  and  the  conftitution  accepted,  in  a  way  which  would  have  dif* 
graced  a  £-ingof  glpiie*. 


UNITED    STATES.  233 

with  open  doors.  The  acquiescence  of  our  citizens 
in  the  Tiberian  privacy  of  their  delegates,  has  mar- 
ked a  peculiarity  in  the  American  character. 

The  arrival  of  Jay's  treaty  afforded  another  in- 
ftance  of  the  fame  kind.  In  London,  public  impa- 
tience would,  by  fuch  a  circumftance,  have  been 
wounded  up  to  the  higheft  degree  ;  and  the  proud- 
eft  miniller  muft  have  found  his  popularity  inte- 
relied  in  an  early  communication.  But  at  Philadel- 
phia, there  was  even  a  parade  of  fecrecy.  The 
treaty  reached  the  President  on  the  7th  of  March> 
1795.  Instead  of  laying  it  before  the  public,  who 
were  ultimately  to  bear  its  confequences,  and  who 
could  have  made  light  break  in  upon  every  quar- 
ter, he  fupprefled  its  .contents  from  mankind,  till 
the  meeting  of  the  Senate.  Thirty  gentlemen  then 
ihut  themfelves  up,  like  the  trariilators  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  as  if  they  had  been  to  a6l  by  infpiration* 
Without  rafhnefs  it  may  be  faid,  that  ihisjiipenor 
branch  of  government,  as  Mr.  Fen  no  calls  it,  did 
not  collectively  know  as  much  about  commerce,  and 
its  foreign  relations,  as  general  Smith  and  John 
•Swanwick.  The  refolution  of  the  Senate  to  ratify, 
tranfpired  on  the  24th  of  June  1795",  three  months 
and  an  half  after  the  Preiident  had  got  the  treaty. 
This  long  fuppreffipn  did  not  excite  an  audible 
murmur.  Nay,  after  the  ratification,  the  federal 
party  difplayed  flill  more  flrongly  their  manly  no- 
tions of  government.  The  Senate  had  juft  one 
member,  general  Malbn,  of  fufficient/  civility  to- 
\vards  the  public,  to  fend  a  copy  of  the  treaty  to 
the  newfpapers.  This  violated  an  injunction  of  fe- 
crefy  paft  by  the  Senate.  The  federal  catcalls  be- 
gan inftantly  to  fqueak  ;  and,  if  the  general  had 
been  forging  bank  notes,  they  could  hardly  have 
made  much  more  noife.  Thus  the  Plymouth  refo- 
lutionsof  the  Qotli  ofO&ober,  1795?  charged  him 

H  h 


HISTORY  OF  THE 
with  '"  a  notorious  breach  of  official  confidence*." 
Inflead  of  this  language,  they  fliould  have*  thanked 
him  for  his  intelligence.  If  it  had  been  communi- 
cated three  months  more  early,  much  of  the  fubfe- 
quent  bad  confequences  might  have  been  prevented. 
He  fhould,  alfo,  have  printed  Jay's  inftructions, 
with  minutes  of  the  notable  harangues  about  the  par- 
tition of  the  United  Stalest*  With  open  doors,  no 
fenator  durft  have  broached  a  doctrine  of  luch  en- 
ormous attrocity.  The  mafler'scyemakes  afat  horje^ 
lays  the  proverb.  In  public  affairs,  the  fame  cafe 
holds  good.  The  more  that  a  nation  knows  about 
the  mode  of  conducting  its  bufmefs,  the  better  chance 
has  that  bufinefs  of  being  properly  conducted. 
This  maxim  appears  very  plain  ;  and,  in  his  dome£- 
tic  concerns,  every  man  approves  ofit.  On  a  great 
national  fcale,  we  are  the  firft  free  people  who  have 
rejected  it,  and  that  is  one  of  the  principal  reafons 
whyfome  parts  of  our  federal  adminiftration  have 
fucceeded  fb  very  ill.  Secrecy  is  a  favourite  doc- 
trine with  our  financial  Mahomet ;  and  its  triumph 
hath  enfured  his  own. 

In  the  clofe  of  the  laft  chapter,  the  word  confpi- 
rator  has  been  employed.  It  founds  harfhly,  but 
it  has  been  inferted  on  the  cleared  evidence,  and  af- 
ter the  ftriften:  confideration.  To  be  convinced 
of  an  executive  plot,  for  involving  America  in  a 
French  war,  we  have  only  to  look  at  a  report  from 
fecretary  Pickering  to  Prefi dent  Adams,  and  which, 
on  the  22d  of  June,  1797,  was  fent  by  the  latter  to 
Congrefs.  The  title  page  profeffes  to  ftate  "the 
<c  depredations  committed  on  the  commerce  of  the 
"  United  States  fmce  the  ift  of  October,  1796." 
Confiftency  with  this  profeifion  required,  that,  as 

*  Carey's  Remembrancer,  vol.  iii.  p.  311. 
i  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap,  v. 


UNITED    STATES.  235* 

jnuch  time  fhould  have  been  bellowed  on  the  reci- 
tal of  Britifh  captures,  as  on  that  of  French  ones. 
Apparently^  grounding  on  this  idea,  Mr.  Adams,  in 
liis  meflage  accompanying  tjie  papers,  hath  thefc 
words  :  lc  I  directed  a  collection  to  be  made  of  Atl* 
cc  fuch  information  as  fhould  be  found  in  the  po£- 
"  feflion  of  the  government." 

The  report  and  documents  fill  about  an  hundred 
and  fixty  pages.  The  lift  of  French  captures  is  ta- 
ken from  the  Philadelphia  and  United  States  ga- 
zettes. Of  the  Britifh,  Mr.,  Pickering  writes  thus  : 

"  Captures  and  loiTes  by  Britijh  cruifers,  the  fe- 
u  cretary  preiumes,  have  not  been  numerous  ;  for, 
*c  citizens  of  the  United  States  having,  thefe  three 
IC  years  pad,  been  accuftomedto  look  up  to. the  go- 
cc  vernment  for  aid  in  profecuting  their  claims,  it 
"  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  generally  thefe  cafes 
<c  have  been  reported  to  the  department  of  ftate. 
u  An  abftraft  of  fuch  as  have  been  communicated, 
cc  is  annexed/'  Report,  p.  5.  This  lift  amounts  on- 
ly to  ten  velTels.  They  are  difpatched  in  two  pa- 
ges. That  of  captures  by  the  republic  occupies 
about  an  hundred  and  forty.  As  an  apology  for 
this  difproportion  of  bulk,  Mr.  Pickering,  on  p.  9, 
gives  a  moft  curious  rea&n.  "This  examination 
c<  was  chiefly  made  prior  to  the  call  of  the  houfe  of 
cc  Representatives  fora  report  on  this  fubjecl:,  with, 
cc  a  view  to  ascertain  the  number  of  French  cap- 
cc  tures,  and  the  circumftances  attending  them ;  and 
cc  the  refult  of  the  whole  is  annexed.  It  is  regretted, 
cc  that  the  time  did  not  permit  a  re-examination  of 
cc  thofe  papers  to  afcertaip  likewife  the  captures, 
"made  by  the  Britifh  cruifers."  The  call  of  the 
houic  was  dated  the  loth  of  June.  The  papers 
were  laid  before  the  houfe  on  the  22d,  being  at  an 
interval  of  twelve  days .  As  the  French  lift  had  been 
made  out  beforehand,  the  fecretary  had  the  more- 


236  HISTORY    OF  THE 

time  to  compile  the  BritiTb  lift.  Six  aftivc  clerks* 
like  thofe  in  his  own  office,  could,  with  great  eafe> 
have  completed  the  bufmeTs  in  forty-eight  hours  a*- 
fartheft.  Where  was  the  mighty  affair  of  turning 
over  twofiles  of  newfpapers  for  the  laft  eight  months  ? 
"With  fome  diligence,  the  whole  might  have  been 
finifhed  in  a  (ingle  afternoon.  In  a  city  like  Philadel- 
phia, full  of  public  offices,  and  able  tranfcribers,the 
jfecretary,  if  he  had  been  in  earned,  could  have  col- 
lecfted  forty  proper  affiftants,  on  an  hour's  warning  ; 
and  even  admitting  the  Britifh  lift  to  be  as  bulky  as 
the  French  one,  each  of  thefe  auxiliaries  would  hard- 
ly have  found  an  hour*s  employment.  But  the  fecre-* 
tary  himfelf  fays,  that  Britifh  captures  were  not  nu- 
merous. Be  it  fo.  Then  it  would  have  taken  the  lefs 
time  to  make  them  out.  Yet  it  ieexns  that,  with 
a  (pace  of  ten  or  twelve  days  before  him,  the  fe- 
crctary  could  not  accompHfli  this  Lilliputian  tafk, 

Thus  does  our  fecretary  trifle  with  the^ orders  of 
the  legiflature  ;  and  Mr.  Adams.,  by  the  acceptance 
of  fo  abfurd  an  excufe,  exemplifies  the  proverb,  like 
-mafter,  like  man.  But,  to  be  plain  with  Mr.  Picker- 
ing, fuch  palpable  fophiftication  will  not  go  down. 
All  people  know  very  well  why  the  Britifh  lift  of 
captures  was  not  made  out.  It  would  have  coun- 
teracted his  plan  of  inflaming  us  againft  the  re- 
public. He  proceeds  thus. 

u  The  editors  of  thofe  two  gazettes  agree  in 
*c  faying,  that  no  great  attention  was  paid  to  the 
cc  fubje£r,  for  the  purpofe  of  inferting  accounts  of 
*c  all  the  captures  which  were  publifhed  in  the  va- 
<c  rious  other  newfpapers  ;  yet  the  number  collec- 
*c  ted  exceeds  three  hundred,  of  which  but  few  ef- 
*c  cape  condemnation."  The  Gazette  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  is,  and  long  has  been,  as  much  an  engine 
of  the  American  executive,  as  that  of  London  is  ta 


UNITED    STATES.  237 

an  Englifli  premier*.  Mr.  Fenno,  beyond  all  que£- 
tion,  inferted  every  French  capture  that  he  could 
find.  As  to  the  Philadelphia  Gazette,  the  prefent 
editor  has  only  held  it  fince  laft  February  ;  and, 
previous  to  that  time,  he  knows  not  how  it  was 
conduced.  When  Congrefs  wanted  informa- 
tion, it  was  the  duty  of  Mr.  Pickering  to  have 
looked  at  a  wide  variety  of  newfpapers.  But  he 
was  well  aware,  that  Mr.  Fenno  had  collected 
about  every  thing  of  the  kind.  The  object  of  Mr.* 
Pickering  is,  to  iniinuate  that  many  French  captures 
have  efcaped  notice.  Yet  the  number  colleded  ex- 
ceeds THREE  HUNDRED.  So  long  ago  as  September, 
1794,  a  lift  was  published,  by  authority,  of  Briti/h 
captures.  They  were  about  three  hundred  and  flxty. 

"  The  conduct  of  the  public  agents,"  fays  Mr. 
Pickering,  "  and  of  the  commiffioned  cruifers  there, 
"  has  furpafFed  all  fonner  examples^  ."  They  can- 
not be  worfe  than  the  confifcation  of  the  Two 
Friends,  and  the  murder  of  captain  BoiTon.  We 
might  add  an  hundred  Britifh  piracies  recited  in  this 
volume,  all  as  atrocious  as  any  poffible  cafe  of 
French  piracy. 

cc  The  perfons  alfo  of  our  citizens  have  been 
cc  beaten,  infulted,  and  cruelly  imprifoned  ;  and,  in 
"  the  forms  ufed  towards  priibners  of  war,  they 
"  have  been  exchanged  with  the  Britifh  for  French- 
"  men."  This  is  very  bad,  but  the  French  arc 
only  followingthe  example  that  England,  for  above 
two  years,  had  fet  before  them,  and  atthis  moment 
continues  to  give  them.  When  complaints  of  im- 

*  *  Inftead  of  trying  to  turn  the  fpeech  of  Barras  into  an  inftrument 
for  a  French  war,  Mr.  Adams  might  have  bought  a  fet  of  this  rvw 


newfpapcr,  and  fent  it  over  as  a  prefent  to  the  Direftory  at 
Paris.  For  every  fyllable  in  the  whole  fpeech  of  Barras,  they 
would  have  found  themfelves  paid  beforehand  with  a  column  of  in* 
veftive. 

i  Pickering's  report,  p.  8. 


S3&  HISTORY    OF    THE 

prefTincnt  were  made  againft  England,  the  federal 
party  did  their  utmoft  to  quell  the  {lory.  In  Con- 
grcis,  Mr.  Tracy,  and  others, would  gladly  have  de- 
nied ;  itiOijmpreffiiients  had  taken  place,  and 
Webfler  vvcn-icred  \vhy  American  printers  (liould 
trouble  thcmfelves  about  the  matter*.  This  was 
the  uniform  language  of  the  whole  party. 

4C  There    have  been    frequent   accounts   of  at- 
•*  tempts  to  effeft  condemnations  by  bribing  the  of- 
'*  fleers  and  Teamen  of  our  veiTels  to  fwear  falfely  ; 
1  but  it  was  referved  to  thefe  times,  when  offered 
c  bribes  were  refufed,  and  threats  defpifecl,  to  en- 
c  deavour  to   accomplifh   the  object  by  torture  " 
Report  p.  i a.     American  (earn  en  have  been  flog- 
ged by  dozens  at  a  Britiih  gangway.     This  alia 
v/as  torture.     Captain  Reynolds,  under  the  very 
nofecf  admiral  Murray,  attacked  American  vefTels. 
Several  men  were  killed  and  wounded.     This  was 
torture.     There  is  not  the  (mailed  defign  to  exten- 
uate French  outrages,  but.  merely  to  prove  the  grofs 
partiality  of  our  executive  in  (hewing  only  the  rob- 
beries perpetrated  upon  one  fide. 

Paulo  major  a  canamns..  If  Mr..  Pickering  has 
difplayed  grofs  partiality,  Prefident  Adams  has  not 
acled?  in  the  fni  a  Heft  degree,  better.  On  the  2%d  of 
June,  1797,  general  Smith  was  reciting  in  Congreis 
the  fleps  purfued  by  the  friends  of  order,  for  bring- 
ing about  a  French  war.  He  faid,  that  the  execu- 
tive had  called  Congrefs,  and  had  complained  of 
the  French  ;  for  the  fpeech  did  not  contain  a -(ingle 
word  of  reference  to  any  other  nation.  He  next 
recommended  the  fitting  out  of  frigates,  with  which 
he  propofed  to  convoy  American  commerce.  Our 
merchant  (hips  are  to  be  armed,  and,  on  arrivingin 
%  French  port,  the  queftion  is  put,  againft  ivhoin  G.TC 

*  Supra,  chapters  v,  and  vi. 


UNITED  STATES. 

you  armed?  The  French  would  fay,  we  have  read 
your  Prefident's  Jpeech.  By  theje  preparations^  he 
can  only  mean  to  fight  us.  Your  envoys,  arriving  in 
France  at  the  fame  time,  are  fur€  of  being  turned 
back  again'.  General  Smith  farther  obferved,  that 
Dr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Harper  had  avowed  the  defign 
of  employ  ing  the  frigates  to  force  a  trade  into  ports 
of  the  Weft-Indies  which  the  French  havejuftly  de- 
clared to  be  in  a  ftate  of  rebellion.  Such  was  port 
Jeremie.  General  Smith  affirmed,  that  thefe  mea- 
fures  led  directly  to  war.  He  believed  that  gentle- 
men wanted  to  lead  us  into  war.  The  member  was 
right  ;  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  it.  This  aftonifh- 
ing  feffion  of  Congrefs  hath  afforded  a  whole  die-, 
tionary  of  evidence.  Sir  John  Brute  fays,  "  every 
"  thing  I  fee,  every  thing  I  hear,  every  thing  I  feel, 
cc  and  every  thing  I  tafte,  methinks,  has  'wife  in 
"  it."  So  at  prefent  with  the  federal  party,  every 
thing  has  "war  in  it.  A  combination  more  culpable, 
more  hateful,  hath  not  occurred  fince  the  age  of 
Cataline  or  Fiefco. 

Mr.  Pickering  complains  of  the  French  mal- 
treating American  feamen.  His  party  have  encou- 
raged theBritifh  to  imprefs  them.  In  proof  of  this, 
attend  to  general  Smith,  who  is  no  violent  demo- 
crat, for  he  profefled  in  Congrefs  great  concern, 
when  Mr.  Hamilton  retired  from  office.  On  the 
27th  of  May,  1797,  this  gentleman  faid,  in  the 
lioufe,  that  members  had  affected  to  treat  the  law 
for  the  protection  of  our  feamen  with  lightnefs.  It 
conferred  the  highefl  honour  on  Mr.  Livingflon, 
who  introduced  it.  It  was  oppofed  in  both  houfes 
by  thofe  who  are  always  combating  for  an  increale 
of  power  and  influence  in  the  executive  govern- 
ment. The  Senate  mutilated  that  law,  fo  as  to  de- 
prive it  of  its  moft  falutary  proviflons.  After  all, 
the  Senate  refufcd  their  affknt  to  a  law  for  protecting 


240  HISTORY    OF    THE 

American  Jea-men  from  imprejjment,  and  from 
•whipped  on  the  bare  back  at  the  gang-way  of  a  Bri* 
ti/Ji  man  of  war*  They  refufed  to  adopt  it,  until  it 
ivas  fo  much  mutilated,  that  the  executive,  to  render 
it  in  any  fliape  effectual,  was  obliged  to  enforce  it 
with  ajiipplementary  part.  Thus  far  general  Smith. 

If  this  majority  in  the  Senate  had  been  felecled 
from  the  Divan  of  Algiers,  they  could  not  have 
more  completely  difgraced  their  Ration.  At  the 
Tame  time,  MefTrs.  Tracy  and  Harper,  below  itairs, 
were  attempting  to  deny  the  reality  of  Britifh  im- 
preiTments ;  and  Webfter  and  KufTel  inveighed 
againfb  every  one  who  mentioned  their  exiitence. 
Thefe  things  are  part  of  a  fyftem  for  degrading 
America  into  a  Britifh  footftool.  What  kind  of  an 
AMERICAN  Senate  is  that  which  refujes  its  conjcnt 
to  a  law  for  the  protection  of  AMERICAN  feamen  f 
The  very  idea  looks  fo  monflrous  .that  one  is  apt 
to  think  himfelf  in  a  dream  when  he  endeavours  to 
revolve  it.  The  circumflances  of  their  refufal  to 
concur  in  the  bill,  ftand  recorded  on  the  journals 
of  both  honfes.  The  full  detail  mall  foon  be  given 
to  the  world.  The  journals  of  the  Britifh  houfe 
of  peers  afford  no  precedent  for  fuch  horrible  de- 
pravity. England  has  hitherto  fhood  upon  her  own 
legs.  Her  reprefentatives  and  legiflators,  though 
often  extremely  corrupted,  have  never  been  fu£- 
peeled  of  fervility  to  a  foreign  nation  ;  and,  a  tri- 
vial inftance  excepted*,  they  have  not  put  them- 
fclves  up  to  auction  for  foreign  gold.  Their  oppo- 
nents, at  leaft,  have  not.  alledged  that  they  ever  did 
fo  ;  and  this  forms  a  ftrong  prefumption  of  their 
innocence. 

In    the  mean    time,  Harrifon  Otis  cants   about 
French  imprefTments,  and  Mr.  Harper  on  the  cor- 

*  In  the  reign  of  Charles  the  fecond.    See  Sir  John  Dalrymple's 
"Memoirs,  and  Hume's  Hiilory  of  England,  in  the   lateit  editions* 


UNITED    STATES.  24! 

ruptiorfof  Mr.  Monroe,  by  French  gold.  For  con- 
ceit and  ignorance,  Otis  may  be  looked  upon  as  the 
lineal  fuccefTor  of  Samuel  Dexter.  As  for  Harper, 
he  is  faid  to  be  in  embarrafTed  circumftances  ;  and^ 
while  he  prattles  about  foreign  gold,  on.e  might  afk 
him,  who  pays  for  the  printing  of  his  eternal  pam- 
phlets* ?  By  land,  our  intereffc  has  been  as  grofsly 
betrayed  as  by  fea^  This  appears  from  the  clifcou- 
ragement  confkantly  given  to  the  defence  of  the 
Indian  frontier.  On  that  head,  the  following  narra- 
tive will  repay  a  perufaL 

On  the  1 9th  of  November,  1794,  Prefident 
Washington,  in  his  fpeech  to  Congrefs,  has  thele 
words.  cc  To  wards  none  of  the  Indian  tribes  have 
"  overtures  of  frfendfhip  been  fpared.  The  Creeks, 
*c  in  particular,  are  covered  from  encroachment  by 
cc  the  interposition  of  the  general  government,  and 
u  that  of  Georgia."  It  would  have  been  fortu- 
nate for  the  people  of  TenneiTee,  if  the  general  go- 
vernment had  covered  them  from  the  encroachments 
of  the  Creeks.  Refpecling  the  behaviour  of  the 
Creeks,  previous  to  the  delivery  of  that  fpeech,  in- 
formation for  the  prefent  work  has  been  derived 
from  two  fourceS)  the  public  newfpapers,  andapri- 

*  During  the  two  laft  feflions,  it  is  computed  that  this  gentleman 
coft  the  country  at  leaft  ten  thoufand  dollars  worth  of  time,  by  ma- 
king fuperfluous  motions,  for  the  fake  of  making  ufelefs  fpeeches 
about  them.  In  the  feflion  of  December,  17961  he  repeated  one 
fpeeeh,  about  augmenting  the  duties  OR  imports,-  at  four  different 
times,  in  the  eourfe  of  little  more  than  a  month. 

He  has  a  very  pretty  delivery,  if  any  obliging  friend  would  fup- 
ply  him  with  a  fuitable  ftock  of  ideas.  If  he  could  be  contented 
with  repeating  the  fame  thoughts  not  oftener  than  five  times  in  the 
sourfe  of  fifteen  minutes,  he  would  not  fo  barbaroufly  drive  the 
members  from  their  feats,  nor  run  himfelf  into  fo  many  fcrapes 
with  the  fpeakef,  as  to  wandering  from  the  queftion.  In  an  antedilu- 
vian Congrefs,  when  people  lived  to  the  age  of  a  thoufand  years,  one 
might  have  found  letiure  for  hearing  him  to  an  end.  Our  fpan  of 
threefeore  and  ten  is  too  narrow  for  the  torrent  of 

I  v 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

vate  manufcript  communicated  by  Mr.  Andrew 
Jackfon,  Reprefentative  from  the  ftateof  Tenneflee 
in  the  fourth  Congrefs.  An  examination  of  thefe 
details  will  aflift  in  afcertaining  what  fort  of  friend- 
ihip  the  Creeks  deferved,  and  to  what  fide  the  ba- 
lance of  protection  ought  to  have  leaned. 

The  account  given  in  the  newfpapers  amounts  in 
fubftanceto  what  follows.  Continual  fkirmiihes  had 
been  taking  place  for  a  long  time.  In  one  of  thefe, 
on  the  1 3th  of  x\tiguft,  1794,  lieutenant  M'Clellan, 
with  thirty- feven  men,  had  been  attacked  on  the 
Cumberland  path,  eighteen  miles  from  South-Weft- 
Point,  by  above  an  hundred  Creeks.  He  had  four 
men  killed,  and  four  miffing.  He  likewife  loft 
thirty-one  horfes,  with  fever al  other  articles.  A 
multitude  of  murders  by  the  Indians  are  mentioned. 
Of  thefe,  it  would  be  needlefs  here  to  attempt  a  ca- 
talogue. A  letter  from  Knoxville,  dated  22d  of 
September,  1794,  &ys, that  the  general  affembly  of 
Tenneflee  had  then  been  in  feffionfor  feveral  weeks. 
They  had  prepared  another  memorial  to  Congrefs 
with  a  lift  of  the  citizens  killed,  wounded,  or  taken 
prifoners  by  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  fince  the 
i ft  of  March  laft,  the  date  of  a  former  ftatement  to 
Congrefs.  The  number  of  citizens  was  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty-ieven,  befides  which  the  Indians 
had  ftolen  four  hundred  and  feventy-four  horfes. 
Thefe  thefts  and  murders  had  been  chiefly  commit- 
ted while  a  party  of  the  Lower  Cherokees  were  at 
Philadelphia,  giving  the  ftrongcft  promifesof  peace, 
and  while  major  Seagrove,  an  agent  forlndian  affairs, 
was  making  aflurances  of  the  friendfhip  of  the 
Creeks.  The  letter  con cl odes  with  an  account  of 
fome  frefh  murders  which  had,  at  that  moment, 
been  received.  They  were  faid  to  have  been  com- 
mitted on  the  1 6th  of  September  current.  Nicka- 
jack  and  Running  Water  were  two  of  the  naoftpo- 


UNITED    STATES.  243 

pulous  of  the  Lower  Cherokee  towns.  They  were 
fituated  clofe  on  the  fouth  bank  of  the  TennefTee, 
below  a  place  called  the  -Suck.  They  were  prin- 
cipal crofllng-places  for  the  Creeks  over  the  Ten- 
nefTee,  when  they  wanted  to  make  war  on  Cumber- 
land and  Kentucky.  They  had  co-operated  with 
the  warriors  of  Look-out  Mountain,  and  Will's 
towns  for  feveral  years  pafh  They  boafted  of  per- 
fect fecurity  from  their  (ituation.  They  were  fur- 
rounded  on  three  fides  by  mountains,  and  protected 
on  the  north  by  the  fouth  branch  of  the  TennefTee. 
They  were  alfo  formidable  by  their  numbers. 

On  the  7th  of  September,  major  Ore  marched 
from  Naftwille  to  attack  the  favages.  He  had  with 
him  five  hundred  and  fifty  militia,  of  whom  an 
hundred  and  fifty  were  from  Kentucky.  They  arri- 
ved on  the  bank  of  the  TenneiTee,  oppofite  to  Nicka- 
jack,  and  undifcovered,  in  the  dufkofthe  evening. 
About  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  a  part  of  them  cro£- 
fed  the  .river  on  rafts,  and  furrounded  the  town, 
while  another  party  lay  in  ambufti  on  the  oppofite 
fide  of  the  river.  The  attack  began  about  day  break » 
Many  of  the  favages  plunged,  according  to  their  cu£ 
torn,  into  the  water,  and  having  got  almofl  to  the 
oppofite  fhore,  the  militia  in  referverofe  from  their 
covert,  and  difcharged  a  volley  at  the  fugitives  in 
theriver.  The  victory  was  com  pleat.  Nhie  fquaws 
and  children  were  taken.  About  forty  or  forty-five 
warriors  were  killed.  Accounts  differ  about  their 
exact  numbers.  As  no  particular  detail  is  offered  a- 
bout  Running  Water,  but  barely  that  it  was  deftroy- 
ed  at  the  fame  time  with  Nickajack,  it  feems  pro- 
bable that  they  flood  very  near  to  each  other.  In 
thefe  towns  two  frefh  fcalps  were  found  ;  and  fe- 
veral others  dry,  that  had  been  hung  up  as  trophies. 
Many  articles  of  property  were  recovered  which  the 
militia  knew  to  have  been  taken  from  their  owners 


244  HISTORY    OF   THE 

when  killed  by  the  Indians,  in  the  courfe  of  the  pre- 
ceding twelve  months.  Among  thefe  were  found 
a  number  of  letters.  They  ha*d  been  carried  off 
when  the  Kentucky  mail  was  robbed  and  the  pott 
murdered.  In  Nickajack  was  found  a  quantity  of 
powder  and  lead,  that  had  ju.ft  been  received  from 
the  Spanidi  government,  as  alfo  a  commiffion  to 
Braeth,  chief  of  the  town,  who  was  among  the  {lain. 
The  prifoners  con Petted that  ilxty  Creek  and  Che- 
rokee warriors  had  pafTed  through  Nickajack,  only 
nine  days  before,  on  their  way  to  make  war  againft 
the  United  States.  Two  nights  previous  to  the  cle- 
fhruclion  of  Running  Water,  afcalp  dance  was  held 
in  it.  Among  others,  John  Watts  was  prelent ; 
and  it  was  there  refolvedto  carry  on  the  war  with 
additional  vigour.  This  the  white  people  learned 
from  the  prifoners.  The  towns  were  burnt,  and 
every  thing  deftroyed.  Such  is  the  fubftance  of 
the  newfpaper  account.  That  received  from  Mr, 
Jackfon  is  to  the  following  effecl. 

Major  James  Ore  was,  in  the  clofe  ofAugnft, 
1794,  °rdered  by  governor  Blount  to  march  to 
the  diftricl:  of  Mero,  to  defend  its  frontier  ;  and,  on 
the  6th  of  September,  was  ordered,  by  general  Ro- 
bertfon  to  march  to  the  Lower  Cherokee  towns,  and 
deflroy  them. 

c  It  is  proper  for  me  here  to  obferve,"  fays  Mi% 
Jackfon,  ic  that  the  Indians  inhabiting  thofe  towns 

c  were  daily  killing  our  citizens,  and  our  officers, 
<c  tranfmitting  a  Roflrvm  of  the  captured,  killed, 

'  and  wounded  to  the  fecretary  at  war*  ;  and  the 
cc  anfwTers  returned  were,  not  'to  pnrjiie  on  any  ac- 

£  count  ac rajs  the  Indian  boundary,  or  carry  on  any 

-c  offenfive  meafures  againft  the  Indians  ;  conjlruing 
^  the  word  offenfive  to  be  an  aft  of  crolfing  the 


Henry  Knoxc 


UNITED    STATES.  245- 

a  Indian  boundary  in  the  purfuit  of  depredating 
"  parties." 

Major  Ore  obeyed  the  orders  of  general  Robert- 
fon. He  marched  to  Nickajack  and  Running  Wa- 
ter, fwept  them  with  the  beibm  of  deftruftion,  and 
killed  about  thirty  warriors.  It  is  necefTary  here 
toftate  fome  fafts.  The  night  before  major  Ore 
made  the  attack  on  Nickajack,  the  Indians  held  the 
fcalp  dance  over  two  frefli  fcalps,  which  they  had 
taken  on  the  frontier.  Ore  had  purfued  the  track 
of  this  party.  On  the^  very  day  that  he  made  the  at- 
tack twenty-two  Indians  fell  upon  the  ftation  of  the 
widow  Hays,  killed  oiie  man,  and  wounded  three  ; 
and  the  evening  before,  they  had  burnt  captain 
John  Donelfon's  ftation.  At  the  time  that  general 
Robertfon  ifTued  the  order  to  Ore,  he  had  infor- 
mation of  an  intended  general  attack,  contemplated 
on  that  frontier.  This  was  well  fubftantiated,  and 
the  expedition  of  Ore  was  the  only  circumftance 
which  prevented  it,  and  eftablifhed  peace  on  the 
frontier. 

The  pay  of  thefe  troops  hath  been  fufpended,  be- 
cauie  they  erofTed  the  Indian  boundary,  although 
they  precifely  purfued  the  orders  given  by  ge- 
neral Robertfon.  The  mnfter  and  pay  roll's 
were,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1794,  depofited 
with  colonel  David  Henly,  agent  of  the  war  de- 
partment at  Knoxville.  Governor  Blount,  in  1794, 
tranfmitted  to  Mr.  Knox  general  Robertfon's  or- 
der, authorizing  and  commanding  the  expedition, 
and  on  the  I9th  of  December  of  that  year  this  com- 
munication was  laid  before  Congrefs.  Yet  though 
frequent  applications  have  been  made  at  the  office- 
of  the  fecretary  at  war  for  payment,  they  have  con- 
ilantly  been  refufed.  After  a  delay  of  more  thai* 
two  years,  Mr.  Jackfon,  in  the  laft  feffion  of  the 
fourth  Congrefs,  has.  applied  to  Mr  Pickering  t$- 


246  HISTORY    OF   THE 

recover  the  necefTary  papers,  that  he  might  lay  the 
iubjeft  before  the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives.  ct  I 
tc  am  informed  by  him/'  fays  Mr.  Jackion,  "that 
£  ( he  knows  nothing  of  the  buftne/s . "  Here  the  mat- 
ter flood,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1797. 

Mr.  Jackfon  further  addsthatthis  is  not  a  fmgle 
imbtqce.  In  1794,  major  Thomas  Johnftoii  com- 
manded a  party  of  TennefTce  militia  who  were  or- 
dered to  purfue  a  gang  of  Indians.  The  latter  had 
murdered  colonel  John  Montgomery,  and  the  Tit£- 
worth  family.  In  the  purfuit,  theycrofTed  into  the 
Kentucky  territory.  Colonel  Henly  gave  that  rea- 
Jtbn  for  fufpending  their  pay.  Thefe  were  the  on- 
ly two  parties  of  TennerTee-militia,  whofe  arrears 
have  not  been  paid  up,  excepting  thofe  comprehen- 
ded in  the  appropriation  aft  for  1797. 

Many  parts  of  the  union  lie  beyond  the  reach  of 
public  information.  The  country  newfpapers  are 
commonly  very  barren.  To  remedy  this  inconve- 
nience, fome  members  of  Congrefs  fend  printed 
circular  letters  to  their  constituents  on  the  exifting 
condition  of  the  political  world.  Mr.  Samuel  J. 
Cabell,  of  Virginia,  tranfmitted  two  of  fuch  letters. 
One  of  them  was  dated  the  nth,  and  the  other  the 
23d  of  January,  1797.  They  contained  nothing 
uncommon.  They  mentioned  the  brilliant  and  ir- 
refiftible  progrefs  of  the  French  arms,  the  unfortu- 
nate chagrin  which  had  taken  place  between  France 
and  the  United  States,  and  the  deplorable  confequen- 
ces  that  would  enfue  to  this  country  from  an  actu- 
al rupture.  Mr.  Pickering's  letter  to  Pinckney  was 
referred  to  as  more  likely  to  promote  than  prevent 
a  French  quarrel.  Mr.  'Cabell  exprefled  his  regret 
at  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  as  Prefldent,  and  ad- 
ded, as  a  confolation,  that  of  Mr*  jefFerfbn. 

On  the  22dof  May,  1797,  judge  Iredell,  of  the  fe- 
deral court,  delivered  a  charge  at  Richmond  to  the 


UNITED   STATES.  24; 

grand  jury,  for  the  diftricl:  of  Virginia.  It  conveyed 
encomiums  on  the  government,  and  a  ftrong  recom- 
mendation of  confidence  in  it.  The  jury  immedi- 
ately gave  in  the  following  prefentment. 

"  We,  of  the  grand  jury  of  the  United  States  for 
"  the  diftritf:  of  Virginia,  prefent,  as  a  real  evil, 
"  the  circular  letters  of  feveral  members  of  the 
*c  late  Congrefs,  and  particularly  letters  with  the 
"  fignature  of  Samuel  J.  Cabell,  endeavouring,  at 
;  a  time  of  real  public  danger,  to  difTeminate  un- 
cc  founded  calumnies  againft  the  happy  government 
"  of  the  United  States,  and  thereby  to  feparate  the 
"  people  therefrom  ;  and  to  increafe  or  produce 
<c  a  foreign  influence,  ruinous  to  the  peace,  happi- 
"  nefs,  and  independence  of  thefe  United  States. " 

The  jurors  themfelves  were  evidently  commit- 
ting calumny.  The  phrafe  of 'feveral  members  was 
cafting  their  ftink-pot  in  the  dark.  As  to  Mr.  Ca- 
bell, they  fhould  have  fpecified  the  calumnies. 
When  the  grand  jury  of  Chatham  county,  Georgia, 
arraigned  judge  Wilfbn  as  a  land-jobber,  they  con- 
defcendecl  on  matters  notorioufly  true*.  When  a  ci- 
tizen of  Maryland  ceofures  judge  Chafe,  he  begins 
with  a  hiftory  of  the  bankrupt  law.  If  Mr.  Cabell 
declared  his  difTat  is  faction  at  the  eleclion  of  Mr. 
Adams,  one  half  of  the  American  citizens  were  do- 
ing the  fame.  This  did  not  produce  the  fmalleft 
confufion  or  embarrafTment  on  the  fide  of  govern- 
ment. It  is  unfortunate  for  the  union,  that  Mr.  Ca- 
bell had  fo  much  foundation  for  regret.  The  out- 
fet  of  the  new  Prefident  has  been  marked  by  an  en- 
deavour to  hurry  his  conftituents  into  an  unnecel- 
iary  war,  while  fecretary  Pickering  has  been  wri- 
ting, and  fecretary  Wolcot  has  been  encouraging 

*  It  was  upon  the  queftior\able  evidence  of  this  judge,  that  the 
prefident  declared  the  four  weftern  cosntict  »f  PeanfylraRi*  to  be 
in  a  ftate  of  ir " 


248  HISTORY   OF   THE 

others  to  write  invedlives  againft  the  French  nation* . 
America  needs  not  to  hope  for  a  fincere  peace  with 
France,  while  either  Mr.  Adams  or  his  prcfent  mi- 
mfters  remain  in  office.  She  cannot  forget  nor  will 
fhe  forgive  the  many  volumes  of  ribbaldry,  which, 
under  their  countenance,  have  been  printed  againft 
her.  Befides,  upon  a  Britifh  fpy,  upon  an  aiTociate 
with  the  attorney  general  of  England  for  the  ruin 
of  Thomas  Painet,  every  honeft  Frenchman,  every 
true  republican,  of  every  country,  mufl  look  with 
horror. 

"  For  never  can  true  reconcilement  grow, 
.    "  Where  wounds  of  deadly  hate  have  pierc'd  fo  deepj." 

On  the  gift  of  May,  1797,  Mr.  Cabell  fent  a 
third  letter  to  his  constituents.  "  It  has,"  fays  he, 
u  been  a  regular  practice  of  the  federal  judges,  to 
cc  make  political  difcourfes  to  the  grand  jurors. — 
"  They  have  become  a  band  of  political  preachers." 
This  is  true,  and  their  fermons  are  often  very  dull* 
In  Britain,  judges  have  generally  -been  foremoft  to 
undermine  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  encou- 
rage the  encroachments  of  the  crown.  There  is  a 
country  where  {peculators  occupy,  in  part,  the  fu* 
preme  bench  of  juftjce.  There,  the  alfertion  of  a 
public  officer,  whofe  want  of  probity  is  proverbial, 
has  been  taken  as  complete  evidence,  that  four  coun- 
ties were  in  a  ft  ate  of  rebellion.  It  would  certain- 
ly be  very  wrong  in  a  private  citizen  to  conteftthe 

*  Britifh  Honour  and  Humanity*  p.  $$t 

•f  Mr.  Adams  has  acled  in  both  of  thefe  HONOURABLE  capacities. 
See  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  vi. 

{  The  following  anecdote  ought  to  be  known,  and  it  is  here  gi- 
ven on  the  beft  evidence.  A  few  weeks  ago,  the  firit  perfori  in  Ame- 
rica gave  a  dinner  to  a  party  of  the  Senate.  They  were  ail  from  the 
eaftward  excepting  two  fouthern  members,  The  whole  ccnverfation 
turned  on  ridiculing  tkejoutitifmjtates, 


UNITED  STATES. 
purity  of  iuch  legiflators.  In  a  fubfequent  letter 
of  June  yth,  Mr.  Cabell  fays,  upon  an  affurance  of 
the  fad  from  general  Smith,  that  thejuft  claims  of 
America,  for  Frencl)  depredations,  do  not  exceed 
a  million  of  dollars,  and  that  the  accuracy  of  his  ftate- 
ment  is  confirmed  by  the  prefi  dent  of  th  e  American  In- 
furance  Company.  In  the  Congrefs  debates  on  Jay's 
treaty,dr. Ames  computed Britifli  depredations  akfive 
millions,  and  the  account  hath  fincebeen  augmented. 
The  federal  party  naturally  wifh  to  drive  out 
of  their  way  every  man  who  dares  to  think  for  hini- 
fclfi  Thus  Monroe  was  recalled  from  France  be- 
caufe,  without  orders  from  Mr.  Wafhington,  he  had 
obtained  the  releafementof  Thomas  Paine  from  the 
Luxembourg ;  and  becauie  he  had  retained  with 
the  directory  a  degree  of  that  confidence  which  Mr. 
Wafhington  had  loft,  Thus  captain  Montgomery, 
of  one  of  the  revenue  cutters  of  this  port,  hath 
been  dif miffed  from  his  office  becaufe  he  voted 
for  the  Jefferfon  ticket.  Mr.  Beckley  hath  not  on- 
ly been  difcharged  and  attacked  from  the  prefs,  but 
even  from  the  pod-office^  x\n  elegant  and  polite 
letter  came  to  him  a  few  days  after  his  difmiffion. 
It  is  printed  here  for  an  odd  enough  reafbn.  The 
char  after  is  feigned,  but  ftill,  on  a  careful  com- 
pariibn,  it  has  a  ftrong  likenefs  to  the  hand  writing 
of  MR.  OLIVER.  WOLCOT,  as  the  Saracen's  head,  in 
fpite  of  difguife,  refembled  fir  Roger  de  Coverly*. 

DEAR  SIR 

You  will  now  Experance  the  frUt  of  your  fooly  in  being  fa 
great  a  Demicrate  &  bitter  Enemay  to  that  Goverment  whofe 
Bread  you  have  Eaten  which  has  now  caft  you  out  of  hir  fer- 
vice  &  is  certainly  nothing  lefs  than  you  could  have  expede 
confidering  your  conduct  for  a-number  of  years  paft  I  can  feal 
for  your  fituation  as  I  Underftood  all  your  Land  fpeculation 

*  See  the  Speftator, 
K  k 


250  HISTORY  OF   THE 

has  turned  out  but  little  to  fuport  a  family  in  that  Dignefied 
Way  you  have  keept  up  However  this  I  hope  will  turn  for 
your  Good  to  make  you  Humble  &  know  a  little  more  of  the 
Deficulties  attending  thofe  whofe  Cup  has  not  ruin  over  with 
thatfullnefs  &  fweet  you  have  long  injoysd  [plafe  turn  over] 
Let  me  give  you  an  advife  as  a  friend  Not  to  let  your  former 
{ration  Hinder  you  from  Acepteing  of  a  lefs  &  notfo  hounorable 
a  place  as  that  you  have  loft  to  enable  you  to  fuport  your 
family  You  now  ftand  Yet  a  Refpe£table  Chara£ter  for  if  your 
Pride  &  Haughtenefs  keeps  you  out  of  Employ  becaufe  you 
are  not  in To  honourable  a  ftation  as  before  till  your  finances  get 
lower  &  Lower  you  find  that  it  will  be  tenfold  more  dificult 
then  to  get  into  a  place  then  at  prefent  &  Endeavour  to  lay  afide 
your  politics  leave  that  to  thofe  whofe  Country  have  called 
them  to  the  Important  afairs  of  there  Country  by  giveing  them 
all  the  Aid&  not  throwing  Impedements  in  there  way  by  fuch 
a  prudent  Conduct  youll  Only  deferve  Well  your  Country 
and  in  time  come  forward  again  and  get  a  good  place  t?ake  thefe 
hints  from  a  friend  who  Wifhes  the  Happeinefs  your  family 
Belive  me  to  be  with  much  refpe6r. 

Your  Moft  Obt  fervant, 
JONATHAN  WOTHERSPOON. 
Nine  years  ago,  the  fuppofed  writer  of  this  piece 
was  copying  in  the  office  of  the  treafurer  of  Con- 
neclicut,  at  feventy-five  cents  per  day.  The  gro- 
velling infolence  which  marks  his  elegant  epiftle 
has  been  too  frequent  with  men  unexpectedly  raifed 
from  mediocrity  to  fomething  above  it.  The  let- 
ter affords  a  fine  fpecinien  of  the  fpirit  of  the  party. 
Your  fooly  in  being  JQ  great  a  dernier  ate  ;  that  is  to 
fay,  in  being  fo  great  a  friend  to  the  political  rights 
and  importance  of  the  people.  Frederick  of  PruA 
fia  once  wrote  a  letter  to  this  effect  :  "  If  my  fur> 
"  jecls  of  Neufchatel  chufe  to  be  eternally  dam- 
4C  ned,  I  can  fay  nothing  againfl  it."  In  like  man- 
ner, if  the  citizens  of  America  chufe  to  be  trode 
down  by  an  ariftocracy,  no  third  party  fhould  in- 
terfere. 

Tour  condutt  for  a  number  of  years  paft*     The 
official  conduft  of  Mr,  Beckley  was  uneKception- 


UNITED    STATES.  25* 

able.  Indeed  no  audible  complaint  has  been 
made  about  it.  Dr.  William  Smith,  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment  of  forty,  declined  argument,  and 
obtained;  a  fllent  vote.  Where  any  thing  can  be 
faid,  the  doftor  is  not  a  niggard  of  acc.ufation.. 
That  government  ivhoje  bread  you  have  eaten,  which 
has  now  c aft  you  off.  The  bread  was.  not  eaten  for 
Hothing.  The  falary  was  moderate,  and  the  duties, 
laborious.  As  to  the  cafting  off,  it  was  by  the  odd 
vote  of  Dr.  Smith,  who  is,  it  ieems,  government. 
As  for  giving  them  all  the  aid,  and  not  throwing 
impediments  in  their  way,  they  cannot  furely  have 
apprehenfions- from  a  difcarded  clerk,  who  has  ta 
provide  for  his  family  by  the  toilfome .profeflion  o£ 
the  law  ?  If  government  fear  impediments  from  Mr. 
Beckley,  their  fituation  muft  be  very  frail.  That 
fomething  is,  wrong  will. appear  from  what  follows. 
Alexander  Hamilton  calls  it an  abominable  attempt 
in  Reynolds  to  charge  him  with  dealing  in  the  pur- 
chafe  of  certificates.  Thus,  by  his  own  admiflion, 
the  fact,  if  proved  upon  him,  would  be  abomina- 
ble. Colonel  Wadfworth  ipoke  of  it,  as  above 
quoted,  exactly  in  the  fame  way.  But  if  this  prac- 
tice was  indefenfible  in  a  fecretaryof  the  tre:afury, 
it  was  juft  as  criminal  in  a  member  of  Congrefs. 
There  is  no  difference,  or,,  if  there  be,  the  cafe  of 
the  member  differs  for  the  worfe.  The  fecretary 
could  only  make  a  report  in  favour  of  funding  the 
half-crown  certificates  at  twenty  fhillings.  But  the; 
member  voted  for  it.  The  one  drew  the  fword  ; 
the  other  drove  it  up  to  the  hilt.  Hence,  by  a 
very  fhort  and  plain  pro cefs  of  reafoningj  if  one  of 
our  legiflators  was  concerned  in  thefe  {peculations, 
he  committed  an  abominable  crime.  The  heroes  of 
the  piece  are  fenfible  of  this  fa<fh  Their  conceal- 
ment of  transfers  at  the  treafury,  and  the  bank  of 
Ihe  United  States  of  the  names  and  amount  of  flock 


HISTORY   OF   THE 

holders,  proves  an  irrefiftible  and  difgraceful 
evidence  of  their  internal  condemnation.  What 
are  you  to  think  'of  a  perfon  who  calls  hirnielf  your 
creditor,  but  refufes  to  tell  his  name,  or  the  amount 
of  his  debt?  Such  was  the  plan  of  the  renowned 
leeches  of  the  Nabob  of  Arcot.  Bonds  to  an  im- 
menfe  fum  were  conftantly  produced,  yet  the  ca* 
talogues  of  creditors  constantly  varied.  This  rule 
at  the  treafury  is  like  the  crape  over  a  highwayman's 
face,  or  the  dark  lanthorn  of  a  houfe- breaker.  The 
public  creditors  of  England  wear  no  fuch  mafk-  Mr. 
Raytnent  printed  their  names  to  the  number  of  an 
hundred  and  twenty-feven  thoufand.  When  Ameri- 
cans begin  to  think  upon  this  fubjeft,  they  will  re-, 
fufe  to  pay  one  cent  more  of intereft  upon  the  public 
funds,  till  they  fhaH  have  torn  afunder  the  veil  that 
fhrouds  the  fyftem.  To  the  great  mafsof  the  pre- 
fent  holders  the  clifcovery  would  be  indifferent  or 
welcome.  It  is  only  the  patriarchal,  the  congref- 
fional  (harks  of  ftockholding,  who  can  wifh  for 
mountains  to  cover  them,  the  men  whofe  aftions 
Meflrs.  Wadfworth  and  Hamilton,  have,  by  the 
cleareft  implication,  declared  to  be  abominable.  Mr. 
Adams,  by  the  way,  holds  the  funding  fyftem  in  ab~ 
horreace*,  and  he  will  put  an  end  to  it,  if  he  can 
get  into  his  French  war.  While  Americans  entruft 
and  admire  fuch  leaders,  they  difplay  a  temporal 
likenefs  to  the  inhabitants  of  Neufchatel.  Thcfe  are 
the  paper  currency  politicians,  who  rail  at  jacobin 
rapacity,  and  at  Jefferfon  for  want  of  religiont. 

*  See  particulars  in  the  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  6. 

"r  Phocion  accufes  him,  i.  Of  trying  toflch  a  fitik  popularity  from  a 
fenu  free  negroes.  An  important  acquifuion !  The  charge  is  eked 
through  feveral  pages.  2.  With  impaling  butterflies.  5.  With  difbe- 
Jieving  the  ftory  of  Noah's  flood.  4.  With  the  conftruftion  of  fide- 
boards  and  eafy  chairs.  5.  Of  refigning  his  office  as  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, during  a  Britifh  invafion.  Smith  himfelf  wasin  England  through 
war,  He  chpfe  te  let  hiseftate  be  double  taxed  rather 


UNITED    STATES.  253 

In  March,  1793,  f°me  debate  enfued  in  Congrels 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Giles  for  .examining  the  con- 
dud:  of  Mr.  Hamilton.   "  The  free  latitude  of  dif- 
tc  cuflion,  practifed  upon  other  occaftons,  \vasrcfu- 
>c  fed  ;  the  fm^lleft  departure  was   cenfured  ;  and 
c  whenever,  in  particular,  an  approach  was  made 
u  toward  the  bank,  the  whole  party  tumultuoufly 
c  crying  to  order,    and  with  the  directors   at  their 
u -head,  role  in  arms  to  defend  it.     The  character 
c  of  the  vote  itfelf,  which  conftituted  the  majority 

"is  eafily  given, Of  the  thirty-five,  twenty-one 

c  were  ftockholders,  or  dealers  in  the  funds,  and 
<c  three  of  thefe  latter  bank  directors*," 

The  great  cry  of  the  party  is  about  th  -na- 

ture of  public  faith,  wrhich  they  alledge  to  have  con- 
fummated  by  funding  the  domeftic  debt,  ri  ^is 
confided  of  arrears  of  pay  due  to  the  army.,  to  con- 
tractors for  fupplies,  of  loans  made  to  government^ 
and  of  the  remnant  of  old  paper  money  then  in  cir- 
culation. Now,  we  muft  recollect,  that^  during  the 
revolution,  this  country  had  been  covered  with  emi£« 
lions  of  paper.  When  the  old  Congrefs  borrowed 
money,  they  took  part  of  this  paper  back  in  loan,  but 
not  at  the  value  for  which  they  themfelves  had  [filled 
it  out.  They  allowed  credit  only  for  what  was  its 
current  price  in  the  market.  The  difference  was 
frequently  as  forty  to  one.  Thus  a  farmer  got  four 

than  return  to  defend  his  country  6.  "  Whoeverfaw  him  (JefFerfon) 
**  in  a  place  of  rwzrj&ip?"  The  doctor  has  been  fully  defcribed  in  a 
line  of  Plautus:  //fl/ww,  impudent,  hrcerecundrjjimiis* 

*  An  Examination  of  the  late  Proceedings  in  Congrefey  &f.  p.  2£. 
It  was  in  this  ftruggle  that  dr.  Smith  pledged  himfelf  for  the  ange- 
lic purity  of  Mr.  Hamilton.  Supra,  chap.  6.  Though  the  number  of 
ftockholding  members  is  fpecified  in  the  text,  it  appears,  afterwards, 
to  have  been  but  a  conjafture.  The  writer  gives  a  lift  of  thirty-four 
members  of  tfie  two  houfes,  who  were  believed  to  be  ftockholders ; 
but  their  names  are  carefully  blinked,  as  if  he  had  thought  himfeU' 
liable  to  profecution.  With  fuch  unexampled  oftenration  of  fecrecjy 
tfiere  muft  be  feme  dirty  fyilem  that  needs  conceal raqnt.. 


254  HISTORY    OF   THE 

thoufand  dollars  worth  of  government  paper  for 
his  wheat.  After  the  value  of  paper  fell,  he  came 
to  lend  it  to  them,  and  they  would  only  give  him  cre- 
dit for  the  fortieth  part  of  its  nominal  value,  being 
one  hundred  dollars.  This  {hocking  fraud  could 
be  excufed  only  by  the  omnipotence  of  neceflity. 
But  farther,  "  a  part  of  the  paper  remained  tinre- 
:c  deemed  at  the  clofe  of  the  war,  and  has  been  fun- 
:i  ded  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  for  one  under  the 
"  prefent  government*." 

Thus  taking  Americafor  a  merchant  who  has  three 
creditors,  one  of  them  is  paid  with  a  fortieth,  and  a 
fecond  with  a  hundredth  part  of  the  fum  that  he  lent . 
A  third  receives  full  payment.  But  a  debt  contrac- 
ted ten  years  ago,  apd  ftill  unpaid,  is  as  fairly  due 
as  if  it  had  been  incurred  but  yefterday.  The  cre- 
ditor of  1776,  who  was  paid  with  one-tenth,  twen- 
tieth, fortieth,  or  hundredth  part  of  his  jti (I  claim, 
was  quite  as  meritorious  as  the  other  of  I73i,whofe 
debt  has  been  bought  up  and  funded,  in  the  name 
of  Theodore  Sedgwick,  at  twenty  millings  in  the 
pound.  A  brief  consideration  will  convince  you,  that 
this  pofition  agrees  with  the  effence  of  juftice. 

If  the  continent  had  been  fold  by  an  hour  glafs, 
its  utmoft  value  would  perhaps  have  fallen  fhort  of 
iatisfaftion  to  the  honeft  demands  of  public  creditors  * 
The  greater  part  of  the  United  States  had  been 
fwindled  or  plundered  to  a  degree  that  exceeds  the 
defcriptive  talents  of  the  moft  powerful  mind. 
Funds  could  not  be  had  to  fatisfy  all  the  creditors, 
or  even  a  twentieth  part  of  them.  It  remains,  there- 
fore, to  be  proved  what  was  the  Juperlor  merit  of 
that  clafs  of  creditors,  whofe  claims  were  ultimately 
admitted,  at  their  full  value,  as  a  debt  on  the  pub- 
lic. The  common  faying  is,  that  they  were  oldjol-. 

*  Gallatin,  p.  89. 


UNITED  STATES. 
diers.  A  great  number  of  them  were  fo,  and  po£- 
fefTed  the  higheft  merit.  A  large  portion  of  certifi- 
cates was.  alfo  held  by  contractors,  and  perfbns 
who  had  furnimed  various  kinds  of  fupplies, 
but  who  were  not  in  the  army.  The  country 
was  full  of  widows  and  orphans,  whofe  fathers  and 
luilbands  had  been  killed  in  the  war,  and  who,  to 
this  day,  have  received  no  compenfation.  Multi- 
tudes of  foldiers  had  been  alfo  difcharged  from  want 
of  health^  or  from  wounds,  and  who  in  equity,  though 
not  perhaps  in  name,  were  creditors  to  the  public. 
Hence,  if  it  ha4  been  poilible  to  clear  off  all  the  laft 
clafs  oi*  creditors,  they  were  not  more  deferving 
thai)  a  flill  greater  proportion  of  military  fufferers 
whf)  got  nothing.  The  whole  hiftory  of  American 
public  credit,  during  the  war,  holds  up  a  picture  of 
inevitable  but  enormous  iniquity.  Three-fourths 
of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  were,  in  real 
truth,  creditors  to  government.  The  lofs  by  de- 
preciated paper  was  prodigious  and  next  to  univer- 
fal.  If  it  could  have  been  poflible  to  pick  out 
all  the  foldiers  or  their  families,  a,nd  give  them  a 
higher  proportion  of  payment  than  others,  it  would 
have  been  well.  But  to  give  one  part  of  them  their 
whole  demand,  and  nothing  to  the  reft,  was  not 
ftrift  juftice.  The  widow  and  orphan  of  one  old 
fbldier  were  actually  taxed  to  pay  the  wages  of  ano- 
ther. When  the  federal  party  clamour  fo  loudly  on 
public  faith,  let  them  revolve  thefe  particulars.  Let 
them  look  at  the  annual  bundles  of  petitions  refer- 
red to  the  committee  of  claims,  and  then  they  may 
blufh  at  the  very  mention  of  American  public  faith. 
Some  perhaps  think  that  the  friends  of  order  have 
been  treated  with  too  little  ceremony  in  point  of 
of  flile.  Obferve  a  few  fpecimens  of  their  own. 
Mr.  Fenno's  gazette,  of  the  2  6th  of  April,  1796,  con- 
tains a  piece  wherein  the  members  of  Cgn§refs 


HISTORY   OF   THE 

oppofed  the  treaty,  are  termed  the  ivar-ivhoop  party  f 
If  they  carry  their  point,  "  it  will  murder  all  your  li- 
"  her  ties,  privileges  and  properties  "  Again,  refer- 
ring to  Mr.  Albert  Gall  at  in,  "  Let  the  mighty  Ita- 
"  lian^  with  his  jlilletto  and  bowl  ofpoijbn  come  on." 
This  piece  concludes  with  faying  that  the  Ameri- 
cans defpife  all  incendiaries  ;  and  it  is  fubfcribed 

ORDE.R. 

An  extract  of  a  letter  in  the  fame  newfpaper  has 
the  folio  wing  words.  "I  want  to  know  how  Madi- 
<c  fon  has  accounted  for  his  inconjiftency  and  dupli- 
<c  city  of  conduct.  How  long  will  the  people  of 
"  America  be  duped  by  this  man." 

The  firft  queition  to  be  here  afked  is,  whether 
£\\<S\inconfifiency  and  duplicity  exift  ?  No  details  are 
attempted,  and  no  evidences  are  offered.  There 
never  was  an  active  and  diftinguiihed  member  in 
any  legHlative  aflembly,  farther  above  impeachment 
than  Mr.  Madifon.  The  marked  attention  which 
this  gentleman  obtained  in  Congrefs,  is  a  tribute  of 
efteem  whr.L  all  Turtles  pay  not  more  to  his  abilities 
than  his  virfnes,  to  the  irreproachable  tenor  of  a  life, 
that,  (into  h  .;  '  entrance  on  the  political  career, 
has  i  r.cd  without  a  ftain,  and  which  is  far 

above  the  ordure  of  Mr.  Fenno?s  correspondents. 

As  for  the  deftrucllcm  of  privileges  and  proper- 
ties, no  party  ever  difplayed  greater  tamenefs  on 
that  head  than  the  Hamiltonians.  After  the  Britifh 
had,  for,  many  months,  been  capturing  American 
velfels  without  provocation,  and  almofl  without  pre- 
tence, the  Reprefentatives,  on  the  2ift  of  April, 
i79j-3  pail  a  refolution  prohibiting,  from  and  after 
the  I  ft  of  November  then  next,  iw  all  commercial 
tc  intercourfe  between  the  United  States  andthefub- 
u  jecls  of  Britain,  or  the  citizens  cr  fabjecis  of  any 
"other  nation,  fo  far  as  refpecls  articles  of  the 
"  frrowth  or  manufafture  of  Britain  or  Ireland" 


UNITED   STATES.  2>7 

This  would  have  been  a  moft  effectual  blow  to  Bri- 
tifli  commerce ;  and,  as  fix  months  were  to  inter- 
vene before  the  commencement  of  its  operation,  full 
time  would  have  been  given  for  a  mutual  explana- 
tion and  compromife.  The  Britim  majority  in  the  Se- 
ll ate  of  Con grefs  rejected  this  propofal,  fo  cheap,  fo 
fimple,  and  To  decifive.   Jay,  that  executioner  of 
his  country,  was,   at  the  fame  time,  difpatched  to 
Britain.    He  there,  by  a  claufe  of  the  treaty^  tied  up> 
the  hands  of  America,  and  deftroyed  all  chance  of 
adopting  fuch  a  refource  in  future.  The  fifteenth  ar- 
ticle has  thefe  words.  *c  Nor  fhall  any  prohibition 
c  be  impofed  on  the  exportation  or  importation  of* 
'  any  articles  to  or  from  the  territories  of  the  two 
c  nations  refpeftively,  which  fhall  not  equally  extend 
c  to  all  other  nations.-"  Thus  we  cannot  prohibit  the 
importation  of  Englifh  manufactures,  without  alia 
prohibiting  thofe  of  all  other  nations  ;  and  that  is 
impracticable* 

This  article  has  the  appearance  of  reciprocity  ^ 
but  not  the  fubftance.  Suppofing  that  England 
fhould  entirely  prohibit  all  intercourfe  with  this 
country,  her  lofs  would  be  an  hundred  times 
greater  than  ours.  The  defolation  of  her  Weft-In- 
dies would  be  the  firft  confequence,  and  a  general 
bankruptcy  among  her  Weft-Indian  merchants,  and 
her  manufacturers  for  the  American  market,  would 
be  the  fecond.  On  the  contrary,  the  inconvenience 
and  lofs  to  the  United  States  would  be  very  fup- 
portable.  We  mould  begin  to  manufacture  more 
among  ourfelve's.  American  produce  would  foon 
find  other  markets.  Other  nations  would  learn  to 
fupply  our  wants,  while  theartifts  of  England  would 
croud  over  to  this  country  in  queft  of  employment. 
More  cammmanding  ground  could  not  be  defired. 
Yet  Jay  jumped  from  his  eminence  to  waddle  in  the 
.'lough  of  pretended  reciprocity,  to  betray  every 
principle  of  official  tmflf,  and  to  trample  onevcry  a- 

LI 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

torn  of  his  iriftr uftions.  The  reader  will  infallibly 
abhor  fuch  ignorance  or  treachery,  unlefs  he  has  been 
a  Britifh  commiflary  during  the  lafl  war,  or  a  cer- 
tificate correfpondent  with  James  Reynolds  fince  it, 
unlefs  he  has  a  fuit  of  compenfation  depending  at 
London,  unlefs  he  expects  to  be  made  an  officer  in 
the  cuftorns,  a  director  of  the  mint,  a  chaplain  to 
Congrefs,  a  printer  to  the  Senate,  or  an  ambafTador 
to  Berlin  ;  or,  unlefs  he  has  twenty  bills  lying  pro- 
tefted  at  the  bank  of  the  United  States,  and  his  cre- 
dit {ticking  together  by  the  nod  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Willing, 

While  the  resolution  of  the  2ift  of  April,  1794, 
was  under  debate,  and  frequently  before  that  time, 
in  the  fame  feffion,  the  gentlemen  on  the  oppofitefkle 
of  the  queftion,  faid  that  the  Britifh  would  not  feel 
the  want  of  our  commerce,  becaufe  the  three  milli- 
ons Sterling  of  exports  from  Britain  to  North- Ame- 
rica, formed  only  one- fixth  part  of  her  total  exports* 
This  reafoning  refembled  that  of  fuppofing,  that  a 
perfon  worth  fix  thoufand  dollars,  will  not  regret 
the  lofs  of  one  thoufand,  becaufe  he  has  five  times 
that  number  behind;  or,  if  you  will,  that  a  man 
would  not  feel  the  amputation  of  one  of  his  fingers, 
if  the  other  Seven  are  fafe  and  found.  Another 
circumftance  mutt  be  attended  to.  One-half  of  the 
commerce  of  Britain  had  been  deftroyed  by  the  ra- 
vages of  the  French  war,  fothat  the  lofs  of  Ameri- 
can commerce  would  then  have  been  equal  to  the 
annihilation  of  one  third  or  fourth  part  of  her  whole 
foreign  trade. 

What  effect  thefe  refolutions,  if  adopted,  were 
likely  to  produce  in  Britain,  may  be  perfectly  afcer- 
tained  upon  the  authority  of  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  who 
was,  on  a  point  of  this  kind,  a  judge  above  xepti- 
on.  The  pafTagenow  tobequoted,  is  of  confiderablr, 
length,  but  it  iervcs  toilluflratetheprefent  fubjcft 


UNITED    STATES.  259 

fo  completely,  that  an  apology  would  be  unnecefTa- 

ry  for  its  infertion.      After  clefcribing  forne  of  the 

numerous  inconveniences  which  Britain  met  with, 

in  attempting  to  monopolize  the  commerce  of  her 

North-American  colonies,  the  doctor  proceeds  thus  : 

u  Her  commerce,  inflead  of  running  in  a  great  number  of 

"  fmall  channels,  has   been  taught    to  run  principally  in  one 

a  great  channel.    But  the  whole  fyftem  of  her  induftry  and 

"  commerce  has  thereby  been  rendered  lefs  fecure ;  the  whole 

"  (late  of  her   body  politic  lefs   healthful,    than  it  otherwife 

"  would  have  been.    In  her  prefent  condition,  Britain  refem- 

"  bles  one  of  thofe  unwholefome  bodies,  in  which  fome  of  the 

"  vital  parts  are  overgrown,  and  which,  upon  that  account,  are 

"  liable  to  many  dangerous  diforders,  fcarce  incident  to  thofe 

"  in  which  all  the  parts  are  more  properly  proportioned.     A 

"  fmall  flop  in  that  great  blood-veflel  which  has  been  artifici- 

"  ally  fwelled  beyond  its   natural  dimenfions,    and   through 

tc  which  an  unnatural  proportion  of  the  induftry  and  commerce 

"  of-  the  country  has  been  forced  to  circulate,  is  very  likely  to 

"  bring  on  the  moft  dangerous  diforders  upon  the  whole  body 

"  politic.  The  expectation  of  a  rupture  with  the  colonies,  ac- 

"  cordingly,  has  flruck  the  people  of  Britain  with  more  terror 

"  than  they  ever  fehfor  a  Spanljh  armada^  or  a  French  inva- 

"  Jion.  It  was  this  terror,  whether  well  or  ill-grounded,  which 

"  rendered  the  repeal  of  thejlamp  afl^  among  the  merchants, 

**  at  lead,  a  popular  meafure.  In  a  total  exclufion  from  the  co- 

"  lony  market,  was  it  to  laft  only  for  a  few  years,  the  greater 

"  part  of  our  merchants  ufed  to  fancy  that  they  fbrefaw  an  en- 

u  tirejlop  to  their  trade ;  the  greater  part  of  our  mailer  ma- 

u  nufadurers,  the  entire  ruin  of  their  bttfmefs  5  and  the  grea- 

tc  ter   part   of  our    workmen,  an   end  of  their  employment. 

<c  A  rupture  with  any  of  our  neighbours  upon  the  continent1, 

<c  though  likely  too   to  occafion  fome  flop  or  interruption  in 

u  the  employment  of  fome  of  all  thefe  different  orders  of  peo- 

"  pie,  is  forefeen,  however,  without  any  fuch  general  emotion. 

u  The  blood,  of  which  the  circulation  is  flopt  in  fome  of  the 

"  fmaller  vefTels,  eafily  difgorges  itfelf  into  the  greater,  with- 

"  out  occafioning   any  dangerous  diforder  ;  but,  when  it  is 

"  flopt  in  any  of  the  greater  ve/Tels,  convulfions,  apoplexy,  or 

"  deatr^mre  the  immediate  and  unavoidable  eonfequences.    If 

"  but  one  of  thefe  overgrown  manufactures,  which,  by  means 

*4  either  of  bounties  or  of  tiie  monopoly  of  the  home  and 


00  HISTORY    OF   THE 

"  ny  markets,  have  been  artificially  raifed  up  to  an  unnatural 
<c  height,  finds  forne  fmall  ftop  or  interruption  in  its  employ- 
^  merit,  it  frequently  occafions  a  mutiny  and  diforcler  alarming 
"  to  government,  and  embarrafling  even  to  the  deliberations  of 
&  the  legijlature*  HOW  great,  therefore,  would  be  the  diforder 
*  and  confufion,  it  was  thought,  which  muft  neceiFarily  be  oc- 
*c  cafioned  by  a  tudden  and  entire  ftop  in  the  employment  of  fo 
*c  great  a  pruportion  of  our  principal  manufacturers  !" 

In  defpite  of  this  overwhelming  narrative,  men> 
bers  of  Congrefs  could  ftand  up  and  make  fpeeches, 
by  the  hour,  co  prove,  that  an  interruption  of  her 
commerce  with  America  would  not  be  ferioufly  re- 
garded by  Britain,  if  me  was  fo  deeply  afraid  of 
America  in -1766,  when  victorious,  and  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  iier  alarm  would,  of  courfe, 
be  vaftly  greater  in  179.4,  when  her  public  debt 
had  doubled,  nace  the  former  time  ;  when  her  ar- 
mies on  the  continent  were  extirpated  ;  when  her 
manufacturing  ckifTes  were  already  ftarving  by 
thoufands* ;  and  when  her  trade  to  the  United  States 
was  computed  to  be  at  twice  the  amount  of  what 
it  had  been  twenty  years  before.  This  turn  of 
circumflances  went  directly  in  favour  of  America. 
In  1766,,  England  was  more  deeply  alarmed  than 
fhe  had  been  by  the  Spanifh  armada.  In  1794,  her 
tremor  would  have  been  ten  times  greater,  as  a 
:man  dipt  up  to  the  chin,  ftands  in  more  hazard  of 
drowning,  than  when  the  ftream  only  wets  his  ancle. 
The  exports  from  Britain  to  America,  were,  in 
1794,  aDOUt  three  millions  fterlingt ;  being,  as 
above  ftated,  equal  to  about  a  fixth  part  of  her  ex- 
ported manufactures.  Let  us  fuppofe  that  every 

*  A  letter  from  a  merchant  in  Mancheftcr  to  his  friend  in  this 
city,  written  about  that  time,  obferved,  that,  if  it  wasnct for  America, 
they  nuouldhme  wanted  BREAD  TO  THEIR  MOUTHS. 

f  On  the  1 8th  of  April,  1 7961  Pitt  faid,  in  the  Houfe  of  Cotn- 
rnons,  that  the  total  exports  of  Britain,  amounted  to  twenty-four 
millions  iterling ;  and  in  1795,  to  twenty-feven  millions* t v^O  hun- 
drsd  and  fcventy  thoufand  pounds  fterling. 


UNITED    STATES.  261 

manufa&urer  in  Britain  requires  fifteen  pounds  fter- 
Jing  per  annum  to  fupport  him  ;  and  that  one-half 
of  the  price  of  the  commodities  exported  from  Bri- 
tain'to  America  conflfts  in   the  wages  of  their  la- 
bour.    Here  then  we  have  ablirafted  from  the  fund 
of  fubfiftence  for  the  labouring  part  oy  the  people 
of  Britain,  ONE  MILLION  AND  FIVE  HUNDRED  THOU- 
SAND POUNDS  STERLING.     Of  theie  manufacturers, 
a  confiderable  nu.nocr  mul    be  married,  and  have 
families,  of  children,     It  m?.y  ieem  frrange  in  Ame~. 
rica,  but  it  is  absolutely  true.,  that  in  Britain,  or 
at  leaft  in  Scotl-.nd,  a  journeyman   rnanufacturer 
has  raifed  his  family  on  fi:;  (billings  fterling  a  week, 
which  is  only  fifteen  pounds  twelve  ihillings  per 
annum.     Let  us  compute  Uien  that  one- fourth  part 
of  the  hundred  thoufand  manufacturers    above  fta- 
ted,  are  married,  and  that  each  has  three  children. 
This  eftimate  gives  us  two  hundred  thoufand  peo- 
ple reduced  to  beggary  at   a  {Ingle  fcrokc.     We 
rnufl  likewife  take  into  the  account,  that   many 
thoufands  of  Britidi  tradefmen  depend  entirely  for 
their  fubfiftence  upon  the  cuftom  of  thole  two  hun- 
dred thoufand  people  ;    fo  that  the  whole  number 
deprived  of  employment  may  be  conjectured  at 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thoufand.     To  this  we  muft 
add   the    deftruction    of  revenue,    the    confufion, 
alarm,  and  bankruptcy  of  merchants,  and  the  fall 
of  the  flocks,  which  muft  be  the  necefTary  confe- 
quence,  and  then  let   any  body  fay,  whether  the 
Jofs  of  the  commerce  of  America  mufl  not  be  a  ve- 
ry ferious  objecl:  to  Britain. 

This  acb,  prohibiting  the  importation  of  Briti/h 
goods,  was  loft  in  the  Senate,  by  the  caftjng  vote  of 
Mr. John  Adams.  All  the  advantages  that  it  would 
have  produced,  have  been  thrown  away,  and  all 
the  mifchiefs  attending  Jay's  treaty  have  been  ori- 
ginally caufed  by  the  fatal  rejection  of  the  vice- 


262  HISTORY    OF   THE 

proficient.  The  advocates  againft  the  prohibition 
discovered  a  great  want  of  information,  of  inte- 
grity, or  of  judgment.  There  cannot  be  a  plain- 
er pofition  than  that  now  before  us.  Adam  Smith 
was,  perhaps,  the  beft  informed  political  writer 
that  Britain  ever  had.  He  affirmed,  that  an  exclu- 
iion  from  the  United  States  would  affright  her  more 
effectually  than  a  Spanim  armada,  or  a  French  in- 
vafion.  The  Adamites  denied  all  this  ;  and  their 
Ignorance,  their  factious  fpirit,  or  their  treachery, 
has  cofl  American  trade  at  lead  feven  or  eight  mil* 
lions  of  dollars.  The  conftant  cry  was,  that  the 
Britifli  would  declare  war.  Some  weeks  before 
that  time,  when  Madiforfs  refolutions  were  deba- 
ted, general  Smith  afked  one  of  thefe  bawlers, 
•what  made  him  apprehenfive  that  England  would 
attack  us  ?  He  replied,  that  he  had  no  apprehen- 
flons  of  fnch  a  thing,  but  fome  of  his  neighbours 
were  afraid  of  it,  and  he  -wanted  to  pleaj'e  them. 
General  Smith  told  this  in  Congrefs,  on  the  27th 
of  May,  1797.  This  would  be  one  of  thofe  impol- 
tors  who  went  home  and  told  their  conflituents, 
that  Madifon  wanted  to  deflroy  the  government. 
Among  the  ridiculous  arguments  advanced  in 
Congrefs  for  accepting  the  Britifh  treaty,  one  was, 
that  it  would  prevent  the  renewal  of  an  Indian  war. 
On  the  29th  of  April,  1796,  Mr.  Dayton  faid,  that, 
by  rejecting  Jay's  treaty,  it  tc  might  be  calculated 

c  upon  as  inevitable,  and  the  confequent  expendi- 
"  ture  of  fourteen  hundred  thoufand  dollars  annu- 
"  ally  ;  but  in  carrying  the  treaty  into  effect,  and 
"  pofie  fling  the  (Weftern)  pofts  with  the  troops, 
"  they  fliould  be  free  from  any  danger  of  a  ferious 

*  rupturfi-  with  the  favages*."     That  the  Weftern 

*  Eache's  Debatfs,  vol.  ii.  p,  347. 


UNITED   STATES/  263 

ports  would  firmly  bridle  the  Indians,  was,  at  that 
time,  a  received  opinion. 

Dr.  Ames  took  up  thefubjecl:  in  a  higher  drain* 
The  tories  were  ready  to  fpit  in  any  man's  face 
who  did  not  admire  his  ipeech  on  that  occafion.  On 
the  Indian  war,  he  fets  out  as  follows  : 

ic  On  this  theme,  my  emotions  are  unutterable  : 

c  if  I  could  find  words  for  them,  if  my  powers  bore 

c  any  proportion  to  my  zeal,  I  would  Iwell  my  voice 

u  to  fuch  a  note  of  remonftrance,    it  fhould  reach 

"  every  log-houfe  beyond  the  mountains.     I  would 

''  fay  to  the  inhabitants,  wake  you  from  your  falfc 

c  lecurity.     Your  cruel  dangers,  your  more  cru- 

'c  el  apprehenfions    are  foon  to   be  renewed :  the 

>c  wounds,  yetunhealed,  are  to  be  torn  open  again. 

4  In  the  day  time,  your  path    through  the  woods 

c  will    be  ambuflied.     The   darknefs  of  midnight 

"  will   glitter  with  the  blaze  of  your   dwellings. 

cc  — You   are   a   father— -the  blood   of  your   fons 

c  mall  fatten  your  cornfield. — You  are  a  mother — 

"  the  war-whoop  (hall  wake  the  deep  of  the  cradle. 

'  On  this  fubjecl,  you  need  not  fuipeft  any  decep- 

'  tion  on  your  feelings.     It  is  a  fpeclacle  of  horror 

:  which  cannot  be  overdrawn .     If  you  have  nature 

"  in  your  hearts,  it  will  fpeak  a   language  compa- 

cc  red  with  which  all  I  havefaid  or  can  fay,  will  be 

1(1  poor  and  frigid. 

"  Will  it  be  whifpered  that  the  treaty  has  made 

:<  me  a  new  champion  for  the  protection  of  the  fron- 

cc  tiers  ?  It  is  known  that  my  voice  as  well  as  vote 

"  have   been  uniformly  given  in  conformity  witU 

*(  the  ideas  I  have   exprefled.     Protection    is  the 

u  right  of  the  frontiers  ;  it  is  our  duty  to  give  it." 

All  this  is  very  fine.     The  conclufion  implies  an 

internal  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  orator  that    he 

\vas  liable  to  the  charge  of  inconfiftency.    Indeed, 

en  the  6th  of  June,  1794,  ^r»  Ames  fpokethws,  in 


264  HISTORY    OF  THE 

Congrefs  .*  (c  I  am  not  one  of  thofe  who  think  that 
t4  there  are  too  many  Indians,  any  more  than  too 
"  many  wild  beafts.  The  one  may,  by  fkilful  ma- 
u  nagement^  be  rendered  as  harmlefs  as  the  other. '* 
In  1794,  wnen  the  doftor  ufed  this  language,  he 
thought  only  of  injuries  that  Indians  have  fuf-^ 
fered  from  white  people.  In  April,  1796,  he 
thought  only  of  injuries  that  white  people  fuffer 
from  Jndians.  In  the  latter  inftance,  Dr.  Ames 
proved  more  than  he  forciavv.  A  refufal  to  appro- 
priate would  not  have  juftified  England  in  breaking 
the  peace  of  1783  ;  and  hence  her  ftimulating  the 
favages  to  murder,  would  have  been  an  aft  of  the 
blacked  perfidy*  The  doclor  looked  upon  this 
co'nfequence  as  certain*  Jacobinirm  can  do  no- 
thing worfe*  This  proves  the  folly  of  thinking 
Frenchmen  more  barbarous  than  Britons*  The 
doftor  fays,  that  "  his  voice  as  well  as  vote  has 
u  been  uniform ."  NO.  He  was  an  advocate  for 
that  fyflem,  which  ended  with  refufing  payment  to 
the  militia  of  Tenneffee,  for  having  done  their  du- 
ty. Yet  the  capture  of  Nickajack  was  nearly  as 
important  as  Wayne's  viftory  on  the  banks  of  the 
Miamis.  Of  the  former,  nobody  fpeaks.  For  the 
latter,  America  has  rung  with  exultation. 

Again,  if  the  Indians  are  ready  to  break  a  trea- 
ty, when  a  governor  of  Canada  /hall  bid  them  do 
ib,  we  have  certainly  too  many  of  fuch  neighbours, 
and  fyfteniatic  treachery  makes  it  hardly  worth 
while  to  negociate  with  them.  This  pifture  of 
perfidy  does  not  agree  with  what  Dr.  Ames  had 
laid  only  a  few  minutes  before.  "  I  feenoexcep- 
"  tion  to  the  refpect  that  is  paid  among  nations  to 
"  the  law  of  good  faith.  If  there  are  cafes  in  this 
u  enlightened  period  when  it  is  violated,  there  are 
c  none  where  it  is  decried.  It  is  the  philofophy 
"  of  politics,-  the  religion  of  governments.  It  is 


1JNITE6  STATES. 

;*  obferved  by  barbarians.  A  whiff  of  tobacco^ 
<c  fmoke,  or  a  firing  of  beads,  gives  not  merely 
u  binding  force,  bhtfon&zfy  to  treaties." 

By  the  fubfequent  account  of  the  gentleman  him-* 
felf,  the  beads  and  tobacco  were  both  to  be  for- 
gotten at  the  nod  of  England.  No  exception  to  the 
rejpetf  to  the  law  of  good  faith  !  Modern  hiftory 
is  as  full  as  it  can  be  of  the  violation  of  good  faith* 
The  Britifh  orders  of  the  8th  of  June,  and  6th  of 
November,  1793,  arK^  8th  of  January,  1794,  were 
all  breaches  of  treaty.  The  extravagance  of  the 
orator's  ftyle  is  too  evident  for  detection.  He  then 
puts  the  fuppofition  that  England  u  refufes  to  -ex- 
"  ecute  the  treaty,  after  we  have  done  everything 
"  to  carry  it  into  effeft.— What  would  you  fay,  or 
cc  rather  what  would  you  not  fay  ?"  He  then,  in  'a 
ftrain  of  lofty  declamatioi),  tells  what  might  be 
faid  !  The  only  remark  <vorth  making  would  be 
that  a  blackamoor  cannot  frafily  itiafli  himfelf 'white; 
and  that  no  man  verfant  In  hiftory  would  feel  fur- 
prize  at  fu'ch  national  bafenefs.  Dr.  Ames  makes 
repeated  reference  to  the  ftates  of  Barbary,  as  nn~. 
Jufpefied^of  breaking  treaties.  A  fhort  hiftory  of 
Algiers^  printed  fbrae  years  ago  by  Mr.  Mathew 
Carey,  will  give  him  a  precious  catalogue  of  fuch 
matters.  Jay's  treaty  itfelf  is  regarded  by  the 
French  as  a  violation  of  owr  treaty  with  them.  The 
remarks  on  this  fpeech  may  be  fhortened,  for  the 
treaty  has  defatfo  died.  This  can  be  proved  in  a 
few  words. 

"  There  is  no  pbfition  better  fettled,  than  that 

"  the  breach  of  any  article  of  a  treaty  by  one  par-" 

'  tv?  gives  the  other  an  option  to  confider  the  whole 

^c  treaty  as  annulled*."     Now,  as  England   is  on: 

tfee  vcrg«  of  a  general  bankruptcy,  our 

*  Camillas,  No.  viir. 
M  m 


266  HISTORY    OF   THE 

have  no  chance  to  recover  their  five  millions  of  dol- 
lars.- This  was  the  temptation  for  accepting  the 
treaty;  and,  when  that  viiion  has  vanifhed,  Con- 
greis,  by  the  admiftion  of  Camillas  himfelf,  are  at 
liberty  to  declare  it  void.  They  could  do  nothing 
better. 

His  majefty's  moft  faithful  fubjecls  in  Philadel- 
phia toil  hard  to  prove    that  England  will  .recover 
her  credit.     The  prefcnt  diftrefs  hath  .not  come  of 
a  fuddeii.     In  April,   1796,    a   committee  of  mer- 
chants   waited  on  Mr.  Pitt.     At  this  interview  it 
came  out  that  the  bank  of  England  had  advanced 
fourteen  millions  ft,erjing  for  government.    Sixteen 
millions  {Berlin g  of  cafh   and  bullion  had,   within 
three   years,  been   exported    from    the  kingdom. 
Gambling  in  the  funds  had  been  excited  by  Pitt's 
exorbitant;  premiums  to  iu ch  a  pitch,  that  twenty, 
thirty,  and  forty  per.  ;cent  were  given  for  money  to 
carry  it  on.     Manufacturers  or  merchants  could  no 
longer   borrow  money  at  five  per  cent,  ib  that.lb- 
ber  trade  was  not  to  befupported.     All  thefewere 
the  ftrongeft  caufes  and  fymptoms  which  could  be 
conceived  of  approaching  ruin.     France  hath  only 
to  reft  on   her  arms,  to  exclude,  as  (he  hath  done, 
Engiifh  commerce  from  almoft  every  port  in  Eu- 
rope, and  then  to  permit  England  to  proceed  with 
an  annual  loan,  of  twenty  millions  fterl ing.     Hence 
it  is  of  little  concern  whether    Britain  profefleclly 
flops  payment  in  this  year  or  the  next.     The  event 
is  certain.     The  delay  is  but  like  a  fortnight's  rei- 
pite  from  the  gibbet.     The  predictions  of  Gerald 
and  Palmer  have   not  been  long  unfulfilled  ;  nor 
have  their  wrongs  been  long  unavenged. 
.    Recurring  to  Dr.  Ames,  we  can  now  anfwer  one 
of  his   queries.       u  The   articles   ftipulating    the 
c  redrcfs  of  our  injuries  by  captures,  are  faid  to  be 
f  c  delufive.  By  'whom  is  thisjaid  f"     By  every  body . 


UNITED    STATES.  267 

Dr.  Ames  has  been  fucceded  in  the  fifth  Congrefs 
oy  a  diligent  imitator.  Of  all  that  might  have  been 
fpared  in  the  reprefentative  of  Bofton  we  find  & 
faithful  copy.  But  from  his  comprehenfive  know- 
ledge, his  pathetic  vivacity,  his  acutenefs  of  remark, 
his  chafte,  yet  luxuriant  elegance  of  expreffion,  the 
honourable  Harrifon  Gray  Otis  of  Maflachufetts 
keeps,  and  forever  will  keep,  at  an  immeafurablc 
dif  lance. 

On  the  ifl  of  July,  1797,   an   amendment  was 
propofecl  in  Congrefs  to  the  (lamp-duty  bill.  Twen- 
ty dollars  were  to  be   charged  for  a  certificate  of 
citizenfhip  to  an  emigrant.     On  this  occafion,  Mr, 
Otis  made,  as  ufual,  afpeech  of  confiderablelength, 
Mr.  Loyd  took  an   extenfive  iketch  of  it.     But  a 
the  commodities  of  this  orator  are  not  much  in  dt 
mand,  Mr.  Loyd  has  not  yet  prefumed  to  incumbf 
his  newfpaper  with  the  copy.     Mr.  Bache  gave 
fhort  account  of  it,  and   as  Mr.  Otis  has  compla 
ed  bitterly  of  the  negligence  of  reporters,  the  ' 
lowing  extract  of  the  mod  fhiningpafTages,  hast 
here  inferted,  cum  notis  variorum. 

Mr  Otis  defended  theftamp  duty.  "  We  di< 
"  want  population  now."     [The  United  ftatef 
tain  above  a  million  of  fquare  miles,  and  abou 
millions  of  people.     Making  large   aliowanc 
water,  and  for  ufelefs    land,  their   territory 
with  much  eafe  accommodate  twenty  time 
prefent  number  of  people.     An  immenfe  "» 
neis  beyond  the  Miflilfippi -'remains  alfo  to  V 
up.     We  need  an  increafe  of  numbers  mo 
any  other  nation.     It  is  momentous  to  our 
fafety.     Jn  the  A.  B.  C.  of  American  poli* 
Otis  might  have  learned  this  leffon.]     " 
cc  fome  obfervations  on  the  relative  m 
u  Europe,  ai^  this  country,  ,He  cowl^' 


$68  HISTORY    OF    THE 

^  that  there  was  this  fimilarity*  ^  at  leaftin  thej 
"  fent  diftrafted  fhte  of  Europe  ;  when  mora 
<c  and  religion,  and  every  veflige  of  what  was  great 
^  and  amiable,  was  endeavoured  tobefwept  from, 
u  the  furface  of  the  earth."     [In  fome  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, in  Portugal  and  Rudia,  for  exajnple,  the  hu^ 
man  charafter  is  degraded  by  defpotifm,     But  in 
every  country  where   any  degree  of  freedom  can 
be  found,   the  people  of  Europe  wiU  bear,  in  all 
relpecis,  a  companion  withthofe  of  America.  How 
ihould  it  be  other  wife  ?  The  United  States  have  be- 
come inhabited  by   a  fuccefiion  of  chips  from  the 
pld  block  qf  European    population.     They  have 
not  been  long  enough  in  the  New  world  to  attain 
any    important   diftindlion   of  character.     During 
this  debate,  an  Jrifh  reprefentative  remarked  to  a 
ftranger  in  the  lobby,  that  nearly  one  fourth  part, 
of  the  members  then  prefent  were  natives  of  Eu- 
rope.    To  the  fouth  of  New-England,  at  lead  one 
half  of  the  citizens  are  either  emigrants  from  thence, 
or  the  fons  or  grandfons  of  fuch  emigrants,    As  for 
the  attempt  to  fweep  morality  and  religion,  every  vet- 
tige  of  all  that  is  great  and  writable  from  the  fur- 
/ace  of  the  earth,  this  is  only  a  round-about  way 
pf  profeffing  that  Mr.  Otis  is  an  enemy  to  the  Frencli 
Devolution.  Had  he  been  born  in  due  time,  he  would 
furely    have   refifted   that  of  America  ;    for   tfye 
French  had  received  at  leallfive  millions  ofprovoca- 
ions,  where  the  Americans  could  produce  one.  It 
'  to  be  inferred  that  Mr.  Otis  laments  the  deftrucr 
"  on  of  the  Baftile,  the  abolition  of  the  Gabelle,  the 
.ick,   the  wheel,  monarchy,  nobility,  and  that  ut- 
*ioft  of  abominations— an  epifcopal  eft abli foment  by 
y.     He  thinks  that  to  let  every  man  believe  what 

Mr.  Gallatin  had  faid  that  we  were  in  faft  an  European  nation, 
the  manners  of  the  people,  on  both  fides  of  the  water,  wera 
ially  the  fame. 


UNITED    STATES.  269 

$reed,  and  employ  what  prieft  he  pleafes,  is  the 
waytofweep  religion  from  the  earth.  .  To  deftroy 
ariftocracy  is  to  deftroy  morality.  This  muft  be 
his  meaning,]  u  He  wiihed  to  place  a  bar  in  the  way 
*'  of  the  admiffion  of  thofe  reftlefs  people  who  could 
'  not  be  tranquil  and  happy  in  their  own  country; 
;c  thofe  who  had  unfurled  the  ftaridard  of  rebellion 
"  at  home.  He  profeffed  an  efteem  for  fomeemi- 
c  grants  to  this  country  ;  but  he  did  not  wifh  a  horde 
*4  of  wild  Irifiincn  to  be  let  loofe  upon  us  ;  who  were 
"  now  endeavouring  to  effect  a  revolution  in  their 
*c  own  country.  He  did  not  wifh  the  introduction 
"  hereof  their  revolutionary  principles.  He  was 
"  willing  to  fraternize  with  thoje  emigrants  who. 
"  might  be  admitted  among  us  now,  but  he  wifhed 
"  a  bar  placed  to  further  migrations,  aryi  he  did  pot 
*c  think  twenty  dollars  too  much. 

The  term  of  wild,  as  here  applied  exclusively  to 
Irifhmen,  is  highly  impertinent.  In  thofe  parts 
of  Ireland  where  the  peace  and  property  of  the 
fubjects  have  formerly  been  protected,  the  ge- 
neral caft  of  manners  was  fully  as  good  as  that 
in  New-England.  A  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple were  however  kept  in  a  ft  ate  of  ineeffant  11% 
ritation  by  the  prefTure  of  their  landed  ariftocracy, 
and  their  blood-fucking  church  of  England  hierar-* 
chy.  Of  thefe  unfortunate  victims  it  would  be  un- 
fair to  eftimate  the  morals,  till  they  mail  enjoy  a 
political  fyftem,  whereby  induftry  is  encouraged, 
and  property  iecured.  Fortune  has  never  fported 
more  cruelly,  than  by  Subjecting  that  hofpitable 
and  generous  nation  to  the  monopolizing  jealoufy, 
and  the  fyftematic  barbarity  of  an  Englifh  parlia- 
ment. An  Irifli  revolution  is  now  expected,  and 
in  its  triumphant  ifTue,  Ireland,  fpurning  the  yoke 
of  hereditary  tyrants,  will  aflUme  her  proper  rank 
dignity  among  the  powers  of  Europet 


2;o  HISTORY    OF   THE       , 

"  Thofe,"  fays  Mr.  Otis,  u  who  have  unfurlert 
Ct  the  ftandard  of  rebellion  AT  HOME.'"'  A  gang  of 
banditti  from  the  town  of  Bofton  began  the  Ame- 
Jtican  revolution,  by  unfading  the  Itandard  of  vil- 
lainy. They  wantonly  deftroyed  three  hundred 
and  forty-two  chefls  of  tea,  in  prefence,  and  with 
the  approbation  of  an  immenfe  crowd  of  fpeftators. 
The  aft  of  parliament  fbr  (hutting  up  the  port  of 
Bofton,  was  the  natural  and  fuitable  confequence 
of  that  fliameful  tranfaftion.  The  burning  of  the 
Gafpee  fchooner,  at  Providence,  in  Rhode-IOand, 
becaufe  it  obftrufted  fmuggling,  was  another  wan- 
ton outrage,  that  muft  be  reprobated  by  every  man. 
who  is  fit  f©r  living  mider  a  civilized  government. 
The  whole  continent  was  dragged  prematurely 
Into  war,  to  fave  the  factious  townfmen  of  Boll  on 
from  a  chaftifement  that  fome  of  them  very  highly 
deferved.  The  friends  of  America  in  England, 
could  no.  longer  defend  their  proceedings.  The 
caufe  of  liberty  was  difgraced  and  injured  by  the 
unbecoming  infolence  of  its  advocates.  The  town£- 
men  of  Belfaft  have  invaded  no  man's  property. 
The  burden  of  actual  oppreffion  cruihes  them  to  the 
earth.  The  wrongs  of  America  were  chiefly  in  im- 
agination. She  was  more  lightly  taxed  than  any 
other  country  in  the -world.  If  the  people  of  New- 
England  had  behaved  with  equal  moderation -and 
dignity  as  thofe  of  Virginia,  it  is  likely  enough  that 
we  might  dill  have  been  Britifh  colonies,  and  in  a 
happy  fituation,  without  any  revolution  at  all. 
When  once  the  contefl  had  begun,  there  could  be 
no  medium  between  independence  and  flavery,  but 
that  does  not  lefTen  the  extreme  want  of  ienie  and 
honefty  in  burning  the  tea.  It  very  ill  becomes  fuch 
people  to  rail  at  reformers  in  Europe.  The  whole 
ipeech  proves  that  Mr.  Otis  is  unworthy  even  to 
refide  in  a  free  country,  and  infinitely  more  £b  to  re- 


UNITED    STATES.  271 

prefent  it.  Nature  intended  him  for  a  keeper  of  the 
Conciergerie,  or  a  led  captain  to  fome  prince  of 
Wales.  After  all,  Otis  only  betrayed  the  realfenti- 
ments  of  his  whole  party ;  and  under  fuch  leaders,  we 
cannot  wonder .. at  the  contemptible  and  .pitiable  fi- 
gure which  the  United  States  do  at  prefent  make. 
•The  unexpected  length  to  which  fome  articles  in 
4J -is  Volume  are  found  to  extend,  has  of  neccflity 
;10^jVented  the  publication  of  others.  This  devia- 
tion from  the  firft  defign  is  more  fully  explained  in 
2,Jrie  preface.  The  following  mifcellaueous  remarks 
*aave,  however,  been  inferted,  as  a  relief  to  the  rea- 
der from  the  famenefs  of  political  details.  They 
refer-to  fubjecls  of  univerial  intereil,  and  which, 
in  the  moll  expreflive  manner,  demand  reforma- 
tion. 


On  Saturday,  the  I2th  of  March,  1796,  two  ftage  coaches, 
fet  out  at  fix  o'clock  in  the  morning,  from  French  town  For 
Newcastle.  The  diftance  is  only  feventeen  miles,  and  yet 
the  drivers  did  not  reach  the  latter  place  till  twelve  o'clock. 
They  took  fix  hours  to  travel  a  fpace,  which  a  healthy,  ac- 
tive man  would  have  walked  over  with  eafe,  in  four  and  an  half. 
The  road  through  which  the  coaches  had  to  go,  was  very  tole- 
rable. One  of  the  drivers,  when  near  Newcaftle,  attempted 
a  kind  of  quicker  pace  than  ufual.  The  wretched  harneffing 
inftantly  gave  way;  the  two  .foremoft  horfes  broke  loofer  and 
fct  off  at  full  gallop  :  one  of  them  was  near  breaking  his  neck. 

When  the  paflengers  arrived  at  Newcaftle,  the  wind  was 
fair,  the  tide  was  making,  and  the  boat  for  Philadelphia  was 
ready  and  waiting  ;  yet  they  were  detained  an  hour  and  an  half. 
The  only  conceivable  reafon  for  this  delay  was,  that  the  Innkeeper 
might  fcrub  the  paffengers  out  of  the  price  of  a  dinner. 

At  laft  the  boat  got  off,  and  with  a  fair  wind  came  up  within 
lefs  than  two  miles  of  Gloucefter  point ;  but  the  wind  and  tide 
failing,  the  veffel  was  obliged  to  come  to  anchor.  If  ihe  had 
left  Newcaftle  but  an  hour  more  early,  fhe  might  have  come 
with  eafe  to  the  wharf  at  Chdhut-ftreet,  by  fix  g'cbck  in  the 


£72  HISTORY    OF   TH& 

Seven  or  eight  of  the  pafTengers,  who  were  anxious  to  get  For- 
V/ard,  \verebbligedto  pay  haif-a-ddllar  each  to  th$  failors  to 
row  them  afhore.  If  the  owners  of  thefe  boats  are  capable  of 
fbame,  which  is  extremely  doubtful,  they  tnuft  blufli  at  fuch 
multiplied  inftances  of  negligence,  infolence  and  extortion. 

Another  tide  was  expected  to  begin  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
rhomirtg.  The  mafter,  whofe  name  is  Mitchell,  fate  up, 
drinking  grog,  playing  at  cards  with  fome  paffengers,  and 
making  an  intolerable  noife,  till  the  hour  above-mentioned  r 
he  then  went  to  bed.  About  four  in  the  morning,  fome^ 
his  men  came  down  to  tell  him  that  the  tide  was  ebbing,  h& 
that  the  boat  was  run  agroiind;  It  was  a  long  time  before 
they  could  make  him  underfland  them. 

Finally,  the  boat  came  up  to  Arch-ftreet  wharf  on  Sunday 
evening,  with  the  tide,  having  performed  a  pafiage  in  twenty- 
eight  hours,  which,  with  the  u'anoit  eafs,  might  have  been 
executed  \njix. 

The  above  appeared  iri  a  Baltimore  newfpaper. 
.Some  of  the  parties  felt  themfelves  angry,  and  fa  id 
fb  ;  but  they  did  not  attempt  to  contradict  the  ftate- 
ins:it,  for  it  was  only  a  fpecimen  of  their  daily 
practice. 


cf  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Philadelphia^  to  bis 
friend  in  Baltimore ^  dated  1$tb  of  April,  1796. 

In  the  Maryland  Journal  of  the  i8th  of  March  laft,  I  ob^- 
ferve  a^n  account  of  an  expedition  from  Frenchtown  to  New- 
caftle  in  the  ftage  coach,  and  from  the  latter  place  to  Philadel- 
phia by  the  ftage  boat.  The  writer  complains  that  the  coach 
took  fix  hours  to  drive  feventeen  miles  over  a  tolerable  road  ; 
that  the  boat  fpent  twenty-eight  hoiirs  on  a  voyage  up  the  De- 
laware, which  might  have  been  ended  in^v  hours ;  that  Mitchell, 
the  mailer  of  the  boat,  got  drunk ;  that  his  failors  fleeced  fome 
of  the  pafTengers,  &c.  Sid 

This  malcontent  mufl  undoubtedly  be  a  foreigner,  other^ 
•wife  he  never  would  have  attempted  to  grumble,  for  two  folid, 
reafons.  Firft,  becaufe,  with  a  few  exceptions,  brutality* 
negligence  and  filching,  are  as  naturally  expected  by  people  ac- 
cuflomed  to  travelling  in  America,  as  a  mouth,  anofe,  and  two 
eves,  are  looked  for  in  a  man's  face.  Secondly,  becaufe  legal 
mirefs,  and  individual  reformation,  are  equally  hopelefs<  The 


UNITED    STATES.  273 

brmer  would  require  fuch  a  wafte  of  time  and  money,  with  fo 
xtreme  an  uncertainty  of  the  iflue,  that  no  perfon  of  common 
prudence  ever  thinks  of  it.  As  for  the  fecond,  there  are  excep- 
tions, both  as  to  landlords  and  drivers,  between  this  place  and 
Baltimore;  and  others  may  be  found  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  But  the  blanks  in  this  lottery  are  more  numerous 
than  the  prizes  ;  and  to  hope  reformation  or  amendment  of  cha- 
racter, among  the  worthlefs,  would  be  the  moft  vifionary  o£ 
all  vi lions. 

Thus  (landing  the  cafe,  this  gentleman,  inftead  of  grumbling, 
fKould  rather  be  very  thankful  to  have  rode  from  Frenchtown 
to  Newcaftl6?  without  getting  his  limbs  broke,  and  his  trunk, 
if  he  had  one  with  him,  {battered  to  pieces,  or  pitched  a  yard 
deep  into  the  mire*  Mitchell,  the  boatman  from  Newcaftle 
to  Philadelphia,  did  not  endanger  the  lives  of  his  paffengers. 
He  only  kept  them  about  five  times  longer  than  was  neceflary 
on  the  water.  If  hisfailors  took  half-a-dollar  a  piece  for  row- 
ing fome  of  the  paflerigers  on  fhore,  they  {houldhave  been  ve- 
ry grateful  that  the  boat  was  not  overfet.  Permit  me  to  relate 
fome  of  my  own  trials  and  troubles  of  this  nature. 

In  June  1794, 1  had  odxafion  to  go  to  New- York.  Two 
rival  coaches  came  near  th&  town  of  Brunfwick,  at  the  fame 
time.  The  one  in  which  I  Was,  got  the  ftart  of  the  other  by 
a  few  yards  ;  and  entered  the  town  at  full  gallop.  I  expected 
every  moment  when  the  coach  would  break  down,  or  fome  of 
the  horfes  fall  dead  under  the  fatigue.  Moft  of  our  pafiengers 
were  as  fond  of  this  triumph  as  the  driver  himfelf,  and  did 
every  thing  in  their  power  to  encourage  him  to  hreak  their 
necks.  At  Elizabeth-town,  a  young  lady,  well  mounted, 
came  up  behind  us,  and  attempted  to  ride  by.  Six  or  eight 
of  us  inftantly  raifed  a  halloo,  frightened  her  horfe,  and  almoft 
unfeated  her.  On  attempting  to  expoftulate,  I  foon  found 
that  I  might  prefently  be  treated  ftill  worfe  than  (he  was.  The 
whole  cargo  roared  out,  ffibat  ?  Suffer  any  body  to  take  the  road 
of  us  r^They  reviled  the  lady  in  the  moft  (hameful  ftile.  One  of 
them  I  learned  to  be  a  merchant  in  New- York,  and  a  man  not 
of  anobfcure  fituation.  A  fecond  was  a  quaker.  I  tried  to  ar- 
gue with  him  on  the  principles  of  his  fociety,  on  the  vilenefs  and 
cowardice  of  hazarding  the  life  or  limbs  of  a  fellow  creature  for 
fuch  a  jockey  piece  of  ettiquette.  I  had  a  furly  anfwer,  and  was 
at  the  fame  time,  taken  upiliort  by  a  clergyman  from  the  north 
of  Ireland,  who  conftantly  kept  himfelf  in  a  Itate  ef  elevation 
during  the  iaft  ftxtymiks  of  our  journey* 

N  n 


574  HISTORY  OF   THE 

At  New-York,  I  was  lodged  with  two  others,  in  a  back 
room,  on  the  ground  floor.  This  was  a  dirty  hole  about  three 
yards  and  an  half  fquare. — What  can  be  the  reafon  for  that 
vulgar  hoggifh  cuftom,  common  in  America,  of  fqueezihg 
three,  fix,  or  eight  beds  into  one  room  ?  No  fuch  thing  is  feen 
in  the  Britifh  iflands.  Among  genteel  or  decent  people,  every 
perfon  has  not  only  abed,  but  even  a  room  tohimfelf,  and  very 
frequently  locks  the  door. 

The  back  yard,  into  which  the  window  of  our  cell  opened, 
was  about  fix  yards  wide  every  way.  Within  'this  fpace,  and 
juft  oppofite  to  our  window  flood  a  little  brick  kitchen,  and 
cheek  by  jowl,  an  edifice  of  the  mofrneceffary  nature.  They 
were  feparated  by  a  brick  partition  about  fix  or  nine  inches 
thick.  The  delicacy  of  this  arrangement  muft  ftrike  every 
perf  >n  of  fuperior  tafte.  Having  occafion  to  vifit  the  temple, 
•id  that  the  roof  had  tumbled  in.  It.  was  about  noon,  and 
a  very  fultry  day,  and  before  I  could  get  out  again,  I  had  well 
nigh  fainted  with  the  moft  horrible  flench  that  ever  afiailed  my 
noftriK 

If  the  continent  of  America  were  only  ten  miles  broad,  there 
might  be  fome  excufe  for  jamming  buildings  together  in  fuch  a 
difgufting,  aukward  and  dangerous  way.  I  call  it  difgufting, 
ss  the  fcene  jufr  dcfcribed  might  turn  the  ftomach  of  a  Hotten- 
tot. It  is  aukward,  for  when  thefe  receptacles  of  filth  come  to 
be  emptied,  matters  are  often  fo  badly  laid  out,  that  the  only 
pafTage  to  get  the  naftinefs  away,  is  through  the  very  middle 
of  the  houfe  itfelf.  Such  is  not  univerfally  the  mode  of  purga- 
tion, but  it  occurs,  in  too  many  inflances.  Now  it  is  furely 
aukward  to  be  thus,  almoft  in  a  literal  fenfe,  entrenched  up  to 
the  teeth  in  human  excrement;  and  it  is  the  more  extraordi- 
nary, as  the  Americans  are  highly  and  juftly  commended  for 
the  general  cleanlinefs  of  their  domeftic  economy.  Can  any 
body  wonder  that  a  city,  under  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude, 
fhould  be  vifited  by  the  yellow  fever,  when  a  part  of  its  inhabi- 
tants are  permitted  to  render  it  a  centre  of  putrefaction  r  The 
danger  of  fqueezing  houfes  together  like  herrings  in  a  barrel, 
is  readily  feen  in  cafes  of  fire.  A  houfe  burnt  down  laft  winter 
in  Philadelphia  near  the  corner  of  Arch-ftreet ;  and  fuch  was 
its  fituation  that  it  was  either  ajmoft,  or  entirely  inacceffible  to 
fire-engines.  I  know  a  city  in  Europe  larger  than  Philadel- 
phia, that  did  notfufferfo  much  by  fire  in  fifteen  years,  as  I 
have  repeatedly  feen  the  latter  do  in  a  finale  evening.  Ex- 
cufe  this  difgreffion.  I  now  return  to  my  travels. 


UNITED    STATES.  27  f 

In  coming  back  from  New- York  to  this  city,  I  preferred 
going  by  water. — The  mailer  of  a  flage-boat,  which  took  ua 
over  un  arm  of  the  Tea  to  New-Jerfey,  gave  an  eminent  proof 
of  attention  to  his  duty.  He  fuffered  our  boat  to  be  very 
nearly  run  down  on  a  fmooth  calm  fea,  in  broad  day  light,  by 
a  veflel  of  much  larger  bulk  than  ours,  that  was  coming  up 
in  full  fail.  At  laft,  when  within  perhaps  twenty  yards  of 
her,  the  {boating  of  her  crew  awaked  him  from  his  torpor; 
but  after  all,  we  miffed  only  by  a  few  feet,  a  flroke  that  ine- 
vitably would  have  fent  us  to  the  bottom.  Thus  we;  i,,- 
lives  of  twenty  or  thirty  people  brought  into  the  moft  ir  i- 
nent  rifk,  becaufe  the  boat  was  er.trufred  with  a  blockhead, 
who  had  not  common  ferifc  enough  to  drive  a  dung  cart. 

At  Amboy,  part  of  our  baggage  was  forgot,  notwithftrn- 
ding  the  injunctions  which  we  gave,  and  the  iTuranccs  wh  ch 
v/e  received,  that  the  whole  would  be  carefully  packed.  So, 

freat  was  the  politenefs  of  the  houfe,  that  though  we  had  paid 
>r  feats  over-night,  the  coach  was  on  the  point  of  fetting  off 
without  giving  notice  to  five  or  fix  of  us,  who  were  in  confi- 
derable  danger  of  being  left  behind. 

In  our  paffage  acrofs  Jerfey,  the  drives  did  every  ning  in 
their  power  to  kill  the  horfes,  by  making  them  go  at  i  hand 
gallop,  for  fix  or  feven  miles  together,  without  flopping,  over 
a  deep  fandy  road,  and  in  a  very  hot  day.  If  the  ow;i  :  )f 
thefe  coaches  had  the  leaft  fenfe  even  of  their  own  interefr,  d  -y 
would  flog  fuch  barbarous  villains,  in  place  of  paying  them 
wages. 

At  Bordenton,  we  went  into  a  fecond  boat,  where  we  met 
with  very  forry  accommodation.  This  was  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  We  had  about  twenty  mi'us  down  the  De- 
laware to  reach  Philadelphia.  The  captain,  who  had  i  moft 
provoking  tongue,  was  a  boy  about  eighteen  years  of  age. 
He,  and  a  few  companions,  difpatched  a  dozen  or  eigh- 
teen bottles  of  porter.  We  ran  three  different  times  againft 
other  veflels  that  were  coming  up  the  ftream.  The  women 
aixl  children  lay  all  night  on  the  bare  boards  of  the  cabin  floor. 
A  little  boy,  one  of  the  paffengers  from  New- York,  lingered 
at  the  brink  of  the  grave,  during  feveral  months,  in  confequence 
of  this  mode  of  travelling.  We  reached  Arch-flreet  wharf, 
about  eight  o'clock  on  the  Wednefday  morning,  having  been 
about  fixteen  hours  on  a  voyage  of  twenty  miles.  Compared 
to.  fuch  navigators  as  thofe  two,  whom  I  have  juft  given  you  aa 


276  HISTORY    OF    THE 

account   of,  even  poor  Mitchell    was  an  Anfon  or  a  C»~ 
lumbus. 

Print  the  above.  The  prefs  cannot  do  better  than  to  defcribe 
icenes  of  inhofpitality  and  fwindling  that  feem  to  have  been 
reduced  to  a  national  fyftem,  and  that  could  hardly  be  expec- 
ted in  a  Turkifh  caravanfera. 


The  buildings  of  Baltimore,  New- York,  and  Philadelphia, 
contain  in  their  conftruclion  fo  great  a  proportion  of  wood, 
that  if  a  flame  has  once  fairly  caught,  nothing  but  the  moil 
vigorous  efforts  can  ftop  its  progrefs. 

If  the  ground  ftory  of  one  of  our  houfcs  catches  fire,  a  family 
refidirig  in  thefecond  floor,  may  run  the  utmoft  hazard  of  be- 
ing either  fiiffbcated  by  the  fmoke,  or  burnt  alive  in  the  flames. 
Their  oaly  fhift  is  to  jump  out  of  the  windows,  at  the  expence 
of  breaking  half  their  bones,  unlefs,  which  does  not  always 
happen,  ladders  are  brought  to  their  afiiflance.  Even  in  that 
cafe,  from  hurry  and  confufion,  the  rifk  is  confidsrable.  In 
many  places,  houfes  are  heaped  together  \n  fuch  a  manner,  that 
in  cafe  of  a  fire,  either  exit  or  accefs  would  be  almoft  imprac- 
ticable. 

Every  man  who  fees  a  conflagration  in  an  American  town, 
muft  remark  the  facility  with  which  it  fprcads  from  one  roof 
to  another.  This  is  one  of  the  great  and  leading  caufes,  which 
make  our  fires  fo  generally  deftrucYive.  The  firft  reafon  is, 
that  our  houfes  are  roofed  with  wood  ;  and  fecondl y,-;a  moft  ab- 
furd  and  ftuf>id  practice  among  houfe-carpenters,  has  multiplied 
the  hazard  in  a  ten-fold  proportion. 

When  two  houfes  of  equal  height  are  built  clofe  together,  it 
is  Very  common  for   the  planks   of  each  roof  to  crbfs  over  and 
jyjn  with  thofe  of  the  other..     By   this  means,   whenever  one 
ifco'fjdridles,  the  flame,  if  it  gets  not  oppofition,  from  a  water 
en£ine^fpreads  immediately  to  the  next.     In  Dublin,  the  hou- 
*ies  are  roofed  with  flate  or  tile,  and  each  roof  is  feparated  from 
others  by  a  little  parapet  of  frone,  which  is  raifed  about  nine  or 
f  twelvevinches  above  thereof,  being  in  fact,  the  top  of  the  par- 
tition wall  between  the  two  buildings.     This  incombuftible 
boundary  makes  the  conflagration  fpread  far  more  tardily  than 
it  otherwife  would  do. 

When  a  traveller  from  Europe  firft  lands  in  the  United 
States,  he  is  amazed  at  theblindnefs  and  infatuation  of  perfifting 
sa  this  practice  of  running  the  wooden  roofs  acrofs  each  other,  a 


UNITED    STATES.  277 

practice  fo  pregnant  with  danger  and  ruin.  A  few  years  of  ha- 
bit reconcile  him  to  it,  and  if  he  builds  a.  houfc  for  himfelf,  he  is 
not  ambitious  of  looking  wiferthan  other  people. 

We  often  hear  of  fires  in  London,  and  they  are  fometimes  ve- 
ry terrible.  But  London  is  about  feven  or  ei^ht  times  more 
populous  than  the  five  largeft  fea- port  towns  in  America  put 
together,  fo  that  if  we  compare  the  number  of  buildings  with 
the  number  of  fires,  in  thefe  different  places,  it  will  be  found 
that  thofe  of  London  are  of  much  inferior  frequency. 

In  Edinburgh,  the  houfes  are  far  more  durably  built  than 
cither  in  London  or  Dublin.  In  the  two  latter,  the  walls  are 
almoft  univerfally  formed  of  brick,  and  the  flairs  of  wood.  In 
Edinburgh  the  wnlls  and  ftairs  are  of  ftone,  and  every  ftair  is 
arched  quite  round  with  ftone,  fo  firmly  compacted,  that  the 
wooden  parts  of  the  houfe  might  be  confumed  twenty  times 
over,  and  the  ftair-cafe  itfelf  remain  without  damage.  No 
wooden  roof  is  to  be  feen  ;  and  the  flate  roofs  are  invariably 
feparated  by  a  parapet  wall.  The  refult  from  this  ftyle  of  ar- 
chitecture is,  that  a  well  built  houfe  can  hardly  burn  to  the 
ground,  on  any  account.  A  dirty  chimney  may  kindle,  caufe 
occafional  alarm,  and  produce  petty  damage;  but  the  burning 
out  of  a  family  is  a  very  uncommon  accident. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Proceedings  of  Congrefs. — Affair  of  Randall  and 
Whitney. — Plan  of  appointing  a  fliort-hand  wri- 
ter.— Debates  on  the  federal  city. — Aft  of  Appro- 
priation.— Debates  on  the  call  for  Jay's  injlruc- 
tions. — 'Strange  anfwer  of  the  P  reft  dent. — 'Appro- 
priations for  the  Britifli  treaty. — Explanation  of 
the  conduct  of  Mr.  Muhlenberg. — Singular  multi- 
plicity of  petitions  in  favour  of  appropriating  for 
the  Britifli  treaty. — Rife  ofthejeffion. 

THE  preliminary  and  mifcellaneous  materials 
of  this  volume  have  fwelled  to  a  much  grea- 
ter bulk  than  had  been  forefeen  or  defigned.     A£- 


278  HISTORY    OF   THE 

ter  all,  many  articles  are  left  out,  which  were 
originally  propofed  for  ini'ertion.  Though  not  al- 
ways in  a  regular  feries,  yet  a  confiderable  part  of 
the  mod  important  events  of  the  prefent  year,  have 
been  related.  Our  maritime  hiftory,  that  is  to  fay, 
an  account  of  the  French  and  Britifh  depredations, 
for  the  firft  five  months  of  1796,  have  Leen  com- 
piled with  tolerable  completenefk.  The  prefent 
chapter  is  to  give  a  fketch  of  the  principal  procee^- 
dings  in  Congrefs,  u  r  le-fic -», 

v/hich  began  with  the  i ft  of  January,  1796.  Of 
many  of  the  mod  interefting  ipeeches,  there  have 
already  been  inferted  large  fpecimens. 

The  affair  of  Randall  and  Whitney  belongs,  moft 
properly,  to  the  year  1795'.  A  full  account  of  it 
has  been  recently  given  in  the  American  Annual  lie- 
gifter.  It  is  fufficient  here  to  fay,  that  Robert  Ran- 
dall and  Charles  Whitney,  did,  in  1795,  conceive 
a  project,  in  conjunction  with  ibme  Britifli  fettlers 
in  Canada,  for  purchasing  from  Congrefs  that  fpa- 
cious  peninfula,  which  lies  between  lakes  Erie, 
Michigan,  and  Huron.  It  contains  about  twenty 
millions  of  acres.  With  this  view  they  came  to 
Philadelphia.  Randall  made  fome  improper  ad- 
vances to  certain  members  of  the  Houfe  of  Repre- 
ientatives,  in  order  to  gain  their  intereft.  Having, 
no  doubt,  heard  of  the  pilot-boat  hiftory,  he  wai- 
ted among  others,  upon  Dr.  William  Smith.  He 
was  apprehended,  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  houfe, 
and  for  a  fhort  time  confined  in  prifon.  Whitney 
had  done  nothing  wrong.  He  was  lent  to  jail,  and 
then  difm'uTed  without  examination.  In  this  hufi- 
nefs,-  the  houfe  acted  without  regularity,  without 
judgment,  and  without  juftice. 

On  the  1 9th  of  January,  they  took  up  the  bill  of 
appropriations  for  the  current  year.  Mr.  Williams 
moved  to  ilrike  out  of  it  all  the  fums  allotted  for 


UNITED  "STATES.  279 

the  mint.  After  a  very  hard  (truggle,  the  mint  pro- 
traded  its  exigence,  under  the  feverelt  repobation 
of  its  management  from  every  fide  of  the  houfe. 
The  plan  of  this  eftablifhment  came  from  Mr.  Ha- 
milton. Large  fums  had  been  expended  to  very 
little  purpofe.  One  defign  of  it  feems  to  have  been 
the  erection  of  a  board  of  linecures  for  the  fake  of 
increafing  the  executive  influence. 

On  the  2oth  of  January,  the  houfe  went  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole,  on  a  report  from  a  com- 
mittee that  had  been  appointed  to  find  out  a  fhort 
hand  writer  who  was  to  take  down  their  debates  at 
full  length,  and  print  them.  A  peribn  had,  for  al- 
moft  two  preceding  feffions,  attended  the  houie  to 
take  minutes  of  its  proceedings  for  the  Philadelphia 
Gazette.  In  this  wildernefs  of  fcribbling,  many 
particulars  tranfpired,whichmembers  were  afhamed 
to  confefs  and  afraid  to  deny.  Four  gentlemen  were 
efpecially  irritated,  viz.  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Dr. 
William  Smith,  Samuel  Dexter,  and  Robert  Good- 
lo,e  Harper.  Meflrs.  Dexter  and  Sedgwick  were 
not  able  to  forgive  the  figure  that  they  had  made  in 
the  nobility  debates,  as  well  as  on  fome  other  occa- 
fions.  Harper  had  diiputed  with  col.  James  White, 
delegate  from  TennefTee,  OH  the  defence  of  the 
South-Weftern  frontier  ;  and  the  particulars,  which 
were  not  to  his  advantage,  had  been  related  with 
unfeeling  accuracy.  But  Dr.  Smith,  was  by  far  more 
rancorous  than  the  other  gentlemen  collectively. 
During  the  debate  on  Madifon's  refolutions,  Mr. 
Abraham  Clarke  of  New-Jerfey  faid,  turning;  round 
to  his  right  hand,  and  looking  at  Mr.  H^illiam  Sjnitk^ 
that  a  ftranger  in  the  gallery  might  fuppofe  there 
was  a  Britim  agent  in  the  houfe.  The  nickname  of 
Britifk  agent  became  general.  Mr.  Smith  was 
burnt  in  effigy  at  Charlefton.  On  the  rifing  of  the 
fcifioa,  he  found  it  convenient  to  fhunameeting  with 


*8o  HISTORY    OF   THE 

his  conftituents  by  a  tour  for  the  enfuing  fummer, 
into  the  eaftern  ftates.  The  blame  of  this  whole 
fcandal  was  imputed  I©  the  pen  of  the  guilty  taker 
of  minutes  for  the  Philadelphia  Gazette.  Influence 
was  employed,  but  in  vain,  to  procure  his  diimiffion. 
This  occurred  in  January,  1794. 

But  on  the  2d  and  gd  of  March,  1795,  theRepre- 
fentatives  met  in  the  evening,  and  fome  of  them  be- 
ing in  a  liate  of  unufual  vivacity,  Smith  and  Dex- 
ter arofe  and  complained  bitterly  of  the  minutes  in 
the  Philadelphia  Gazette.  Neither  of  them  faid, 
becaufe  neither  of  them  durfl  fay,  that  any  thing 
of  their  own  had  been  mifrepreiented.  The  late 
Mr.  Andrew  Brown,  knowing  that  miftakes  were 
unavoidable,  had  uniformly  advertifed  that  he  was 
ready  to  receive  and  print  corrections.  The  two 
members  clofed  by  propofmg  a  refolntion  for  ap- 
pointing a  committee  to  examine  a  ftenographer. 
It  pan:  by  twenty-eight  votes  againft  twenty-fix. 

All  this  was  in  March,  1795.  ®n  tnc  29tn  °f 
January,  1796,  Mr.  Giles  and  Dr.  Smith,  who 
had  been  appointed  a  committee,  reported  in  fa- 
vour of  Mr.  Robertfon,  a  Scotfman,  from  Peteri- 
burg,  in  Virginia.  He  demanded  four  thoufand 
dollars.  Congrefs  were  to  give  him  two  thoufand 
nine  hundred,  and  Mr.  Brown  undertook  for  the 
reft  of  the  fum.  The  debates  were  to  be  printed 
firfl  in  his  newfpaper.  This  would  likewifeanfwer 
theobjeft  of  Mr.  Smith  infeparating  Mr.  Brown  and 
his  prefent  reporter. 

The  plan  was  attacked  from  every  part  of  the 
houfe,  as  impracticable,  if  ufeful ;  and  as  ufelefs  if  it 
could  be  practicable.  Mr.  Baldwin  faid  that  he 
had  feen  many  printed  fketches  of  fpeeches  made  in 
that  houfe,  and  which  lie  would  not  wim  to  fee  bet- 
ter done.  Mr.  Swanwick  had  often  heard  of  nrij- 
cdlancQiis  compojitions ,  but  the  ftrangeft  of  all 


UNITED    STATES,  281 

eellanies  that  he  ever  heard  of,  was  for  the  legiila- 
ture  of  a  country  to  ran  (hares  with  a  printer  in 
the  publication  of  their  proceedings.  Even  Mr* 
Sedgwick,  alfo,  oppofed  the  plan.  He  honeftty 
faid,  that  gentlemen  were  apt  to  getin;to  apaflion, 
and  then  they  werq  angry  at  feeing  their  expreflions 
in  print.  Mr.  Nicholas  was  for  the  appointment. 
He  complained  that  a  perlbn  who  came  often  to 
that  houfe,  and  who  had  a  very  good  flyle  of  wri- 
ting, once  publiftied  a  fpeech  as  his.  tc  ^he  language 
t£  was  much  better  than  I  could  have  made/'  laid 
Mr.  Nicholas,  and  here  the  member  was  miftaken. 
:  The  fpeech  did  not  contain  a  fingle  fentiment 
"  that  I  would  have  difowned,  but  flill  the  fpeech 
"  was  not  mine."  Mr.  Harper  attacked  the  de- 
bates in  the  Philadelphia  Gazette,  as  difgraceful  to 
the  country,  and  full  of  falfehoods.  He  prattled 
away  at  this  rate,  for  a  confiderable  time.  He  had 
never  complained  of  inaccuracy  but  once  ;  and  his 
correction  was  immediately  adopted.  Mr.  Harper 
pofTefTes  a  readinefs  of  invention,  and  a  confidence 
of  affirmation,  which  the  public  eflimate  at  their 
proper  value. 

Mr.  Giles  fpoke  in  favour  of  the  report  ;  but  he 
feemed  to  lofe  courage  on  finding  that  a  large 
majority  in  the  houfe  entirely  difapproved  of  the 
plan.  He  expreffed  regret  at  having  been  concern- 
ed in  it.  As  an  excufe,  he  complained,  for  the  firfl 
time,  of  the  inaccuracy  of  the  debates.  He  had 
never  before  dropt  a  hint  of  that  nature.  Theprc- 
fumption  is,  that  it  was  now  brought  forward  to 
help  him  out  with  a  lame  argument.  He  felt  evi- 
dent chagrin  at  finding  himfelf  entangled  in  this 
prodigal  and  abfurd  project.  The  committee  rofe 
without  a  divifion.  On  the  2d  of  February,  1796, 
the  fubjedl:  was  difcharged  by  a  refolution  of  the 
houfe.  Mr.  Robertfon  had  come  feme  hundreds 

Oo 


HISTORY   OF   THE 

of  miles,  from  a  lucrative  employment,  at  the  par- 
ticular defire  of  the  fpecial  committee,  and  had 
{laid  in  Philadelphia  waiting  on  this  bufinefs,  at  a 
conflderable  expence.  He  was  difmiffed  without 
compenfation.  The  houfe  ought  at  lead  to  have 
paid  the  charges  of  his  journey. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  the  Prefident  had  fent  a 
meffage  to  Congrefs.  It  ioclofed  a  memorial  from 
the  commiilioriers  appointed  for  infpecting  the 
buildings  at  the  federal  city.  The  objeft  was,  to 
obtain  a  loan  of  money,  under  the  fantftion  of  go- 
vernment, in  order  to  complete  the  public  build- 
ings at  that  place.  The  loan  was  to  be  fecured  on 
the  public  property  in  the  city.  The  United  States 
were  to  pledge  themielves  that,  in  cafe  of  the  pro- 
perty proving  inadequate  for  difcharging  the  loan, 
government  was  to  make  good  the  deficiency. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  this 
meflage.  After  feveral  difcufllons,  a  bill  refpe£ling 
it  palled  the  Houie  of  Reprefentatives,  on  the  3ift 
of  March,  1796.  The  Prefident  was  thereby  au- 
thorued  to  borrow  three  hundred  thoufand  dollars 
on  the  plan  above  flated.  The  bill  went  through, 
by  feventy-two  votes  againft  twenty-one.  Thus  a 
frefli  blifler  is  applied  to  the  back  of  our  national 
debt. 

Mr.  Coit,  Mr,  Sit  greaves,  Mr.  Havens,  and  Mr. 
Swanwick,  did  themfelves  the  honour  of  oppofing 
this  annihilation  of  the  public  money ;  for,  that 
thefe  three  hundred  thoufand  dollars  will  finally 
come  out  of  the  federal  treafury,  and  never  more 
return  to  it,  Is  tolerably  certain. 

Mr.  Coit  faid,  that,  between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred thoufand  dollars  have  already  been  expended ; 
and,  as  he  conceived,  to  what  'was  uuorje  than  no 
purpofe*  Ninety-feven  thoufand  dollars  had  beeii 
laid  out  on  the  Prefideut's  houfe?  and  it  was  eftima- 


UNITED    STATES.  283 

ted  that  nearly  as  much  more  would  be  wanted  to 
complete  it.  When  finilhed,  he  conceived  that 
a  houfe,  which  would  cod  only  fifty  thoufand  dol- 
lars, would  better  anfwer  the  purpole.  About 
eighty  thoufand  dollars  had  been  expended  on  the 
capitol,  and  yet,  progrefs  ivas  fcarce-ly  made  beyond 
the  foundation.  He  expected  many  future  and  hea- 
vy applications  to  the  public  treafury  for  thofe  buil- 
dings, which  he  feared  would  be  a  lading  monu- 
ment of  the  pride  and  folly  of  this  country. — Nine- 
ty-feven  thoufand  dollars  for  a  prefidential  palace, 
that  is  not  yet  more  than  half  completed  !  Thus  the 
whole  building  will  cod  at  lead  two  hundred  thou- 
fand dollars.  If  this  is  not  deplorable  wade  of  mo- 
ney, we  mould  be  happy  to  learn  what  name  it  de- 
ferves  ?  Indeed,  unlefs  among  the  parties  immedi- 
ately intereded  in  forwarding  this  houfe,  there  can 
hardly  be  two  opinions  about  it.  The  abfurdity  is 
too  enormous  to  be  endured  with  tranquility  by 
any  man,  unlefs  his  ideas  are  adulterated  by  fel£- 
intered,  by  prejudice,  by  the  horror  of  being  left  in 
a  minority,  or  by  fome  other  petty  motive  unconnec- 
ted with  the  common  exercifeofhis  underdandingo 
The  capitol  is  another  fuperfluous  edifice,  that,  as 
came  out  in  the  debates,  has  already  funk  eighty 
thoufand  dollars,  and  is  fcarcely  raifed  beyond  its 
foundation.  Such. things  are  encouraged  to  go 
on,  while  our  mod  excellent  of  all  governments 
can  hardly  raife  money  to  pay  the  very  intered  of 
the  debts  which  it  is  annually  contracting.  It  is  not 
a  feafon  to  varnifh  the  poop,  when  the  wind  is  ren- 
ding the  ihrouds,  when  the  fea  is  burding  the  f«ams7 
and  driving  in  the  cabin  windows. 

Mr.  Sedgwick,  in  the  debate  on  the  25th  of  Februa- 
ry declared,  with  a  convenient  rotundity  of  afTertion.) 
that  accommodations  are  to  be  made  for  govern- 
ment without  any  expence  to  the  public  treajury  ^  It: 


284  HISTORY    OF    THE 

is  certain  that  they  will  be  erefted  at  a  very  enor- 
mous expence,  which  muft  come  in  fome  fhape 
from  the  purfes  of  the  people.  Every  newfpaper 
is  occafionally  filled  with  advertifements  about  the 
Waftiington  lottery.  This  is  a  tax  on  the  public. 
In  Europe  it  is  univerfally  agreed,  that  a  lottery  is 
the  moft  ruinous  of  all  methods  for  raifing  money, 
and,  at  the  fame  time,  the  moft  injurious  to  the  morals 
of  the  people.  When  we  hear  Mr.  Sedgwick  fay, 
that  thefe  public  buildings  are  to  be  raifed  without 
expence  to  the  public,  one  might  guefs  that,  like 
the  palace  in  an  Arabian  tale,  they  were  to  rife  by 
enchantment. 

It  is  amazing  that  any  gentleman  can  fband  up  in 
Congrefs,  and  talk  in  fuch  a  way.  Nay,  Mr.  Sedg- 
wick went  further.  He  faid  that  the  more  magni- 
ficent thefe  buildings  were,  fo  much  the  better.  If 
they  exceeded  the  fplendour  of  the  palaces  of  Eu- 
rope, Americans  ought  to  \>c  grateful.  It  is  highly 
wrong  for  any  legiflature  to  encourage,  among  its 
citizens,  a  tafte  for  gambling.  The  lottery  for  the 
federal  city  does  this  in  a  confiderable  degree  ;  it  ex- 
plains, what  Mr.  Coit  juftly  faid,  that  between  three 
and  four  hundred  thoufand  dollars  have  been  expen- 
ded to  what  is  ivorfe  than  no  purpoje* 

Mr.  Sedgwick  may  rant  as  much  as  he  pleafes, 
about  the  gratification  that  Americans  muft  feel  in 
contemplating  the  completion,  and  magnificence  of 
thefe  buildings  in  the  federal  city.  A  man  with 
chafte  ideas  of  political  economy,  and  of  national 
freedom,  will  confider  them  as  an  equal  outrage  on 
the  one  and  the  other.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt, 
the  amphitheatre  of  Titus,  the  pillar  of  Trajan, 
and  a  thoufand  other  edifices  of  a  flmilar  defcrip- 
tion,  were  durable  andinfulting  teflimonials  of  the 
flavery  of  mankind,  with  an  impreffton  more  forci- 


UNITED  STATES.  285* 

fele  than  the  pen  or  the  pencil  can  convey.  They 
attefted,  that  the  property  and  induftry  of  mil- 
lions of  people  had  been  facrificed  to  glut  the 
caprice  and  vanity  of  a  Tingle  man.  j4nd  iuho 
or  what  'was  this  man  f  Some  jockey  king,  or 
cut  throat  emperor,  who,  if  ilript  of  a  little  brief 
authority,  would,  ufually,  have  been  one  of  the 
mod  inflgnificant  of  his  ipecies.  But  it  is  need- 
leis  to  enter  into  general  declarations,  or  appeal  to 
the  mournful  evidence  of  Rome  and  Egypt,  The 
fafts  admitted  in  Congrefs  fpeak  with  fufficient  di£- 
tinclnefs. 

If  the  money  had  been  laid  out  on  a  canal  be- 
tween Newcaftle  and  Frenchtown,  or  on  a  high 
road  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  or  in 
penfions,  to  fbme  of  the  poor  old  foldiers,  who 
fold  their  certificates  for  half  a  crown  in  the  pound, 
there  might  be  fome  confolation.  The  cam  had, to 
be  fure,  been  raifed  in  a  bad  way,  but  its  expendi- 
ture had  anfwered  fome  ufeful  end  ;  and,  though 
no  man  of  fenfe  would  ever  have  been  highly  plea- 
fed  by  feeing  the  rapid  fale  of  lottery  tickets,  yet 
the  laudable  application  of  the  money,  mufhhave 
ferved  as  an  emolient  to  the  ulcer. 

It  is  hard  to  fay  what  was  the  original  object  of 
founding  this  federal  city,  or  what  benefit  it  could 
be  fuppofed  to  anfwer  to  the  country  in  general. 
The  human  faculties  are  as  clear  on  the  banks  of 
the  Delaware  as  on  thofe  of  the  Potomac.  The  Pre~ 
fident  had  already  a  good  houfe  in  Philadelphia, 
for  which  his  very  large  falary,  of  twenty-five 
thoufand  dollars,  well  enables  him  to  pay  a  fuit- 
able  rent.  The  apartments  wherein  Congrefs  at 
prefent  aflemble,  in  the  fame  city,  are  as  roomy 
and  elegant  as  can  be  defired.  Philadelphia  has 
a  centrical  fituation,  and  an  atmofphere  at  leaft  as 
healthy  as  the  intended  new  metropolis.  We  aik 


i86  HISTORY  OF   THE 

then,  what  could  be  the  life  or  object  of  thele 
buildings  ?  Or  why  did  a  government,  encumbered 
with  a  debt  of  feventy  millions  of  dollars,  plunge 
its  citizens  into  this  unfathomable  pit  of  architec- 
ture and  of  lotteries  ?  An  old  London  bookfeller 
ufed  to  fay,  that  the  title  page  was  half  of  the  bat- 
tle. In  like  manner,  the  name  of  this  city  has  pro- 
duced more  than  half  the  patience  with  which  its 
expenditures  have  been  endured. 

Endured  is  the  proper  word,  for  this  plan  has 
never  excited  popular  enthuflafm.  It  hardly  could. 
Is  there  not  already  in  the  union  a  city  good 
enough  to  accommodate  Congrefs  ?  No  other 
city  on  the  continent  can  expect  the  fmalleft 
advantage  from  this  removal,  and  every  one  of 
them  feels  a  certain  lofs.  cc  On  the  fame  principle/' 
faid  Mr.  Swanwick,  u  the  houfe  might  guarantee 
"  loans  for  all  the  cities  in  the  union  ?  Why  a  loan 
u  for  the  city  of  Wafhington  in  particular  ?  Was 
"  there  any  reafon  why  the  different  cities  in  the 
4C  union  fhould  be  taxed  for  that  city  f"  He  might 
have  Subjoined,  is  there  9jxy*juJKc&  in  fuch  a  tax  ? 
If  Washington  becomes  an  eminent  commercial 
place,  Alexandria,  or  Norfolk,  or  Baltimore,  will 
not  be  one  farthing  the  better  for  it,  but  they  may 
chance  to  be  the  worfe, 

It  is  highly  expedient  that  the  /  legiflature  of  a 
nation  fhould  afTemble  to  do  buiinefs  in  one  of  the 
largell  of  its  cities.  The  reafon  is  obvious.  The 
eyes  of  the  people  are  thus  more  effectually  open- 
ed to  its  proceedings  ;  and  a  legiflature  is  much 
more  fafely  to  be  entrufted  when  under  fuch  in- 
fpection. 

The  fpirit  of  liberty,  the  penetration  to  difcern 
and  fortitude  to  reflfLdefpotifm,  have  often  been 
found  to  beat  higher  in  the  metropolis  of  a  limited 
government  than  in  any  other  place*  Thus  Charles. 


UNITED    STATES.  287 

was  blamed  for  calling  the  long  parliament 
at  London,  \vhere  his  tyranny  was  detefted,  and 
confequently  where  parliament  were  fure  of  firm 
and  effectual  fupport.  His  friends  regretted  that  it 
liad  not  met  at  Oxford;  themiflakecoft  hismajefty 
the  lofs  of  his  head. 

The  French  revolution  began  at  Paris.  The 
true  character  of  government  was  much  better  un- 
derfteod  there,  by  the  common  people,  than  by  the 
lame  clafs  in  moft  other  quarters  of  the  kingdom. 
At  Amfterdam,  alfo,  oppofition  to  the  corrupting 
influence  of  the  fladtholder  \vas  always  ftronger  than 
•any  where  elfe.  A  very  large  city  is,  in  almoffc 
every  refpee%  a  great  nuifance.  Yet,  as  it  is  a  bad 
ivindiuhich  blows  good  to  nobody,  a  fubordinate  ad- 
vantage may  often  be  traced  in  the  midfl  of  a  po- 
litical evil. 

Suchimmenfe  capitals  as  London,  Paris,  or  even 
Amfterdam,  cannot  fubfift  in  America,  for  centuries 
to  come,  but  if  they  did  fo,  many  reafons  would  re- 
commend that  the  feat  of  government  mould  alib 
refide  in  fuch  a  fit  u  at  ion.  With  fo  many  obfer- 
vers  to  watch  its  motions,  and  whofe  very  numbers 
infpirethem  with  peculiar  confidence,  the  infolencc 
or  corruption  of  office  is  more  likely  to  be  detected 
and  expofed  than  on  a  more  limited  field  of  enquiry. 
The  prefent  trifling  oppofition  that  the  abandoned 
minifter  of  England  finds  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons, 
would,  by  this  time,  have moft  likely  dwindled  alto- 
gether away,  if  the  fpirit  of  Sheridan  and  others  had 
not  been  fupported  by  their  fltuation  in  the  bo- 
fom  of  a  numerous  party  of  the  citizens  of  London. 

Thefe  hints  tend  to  point  out  the  propriety  of 
retaining  the  refidence  of  the  federal  legislature  in 
one  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  union.  On  the  ftreets 
of  New- York  or  Philadelphia,  every  member  of 
Congrefs  meets  with  fellow  citizens  as  independent 


288  HISTORY    OF   THE 

and  well-informed  as  himfelf,  and  who,  without  ce- 
remony, will  tell  him  what  they  think  of  his 
conduct.  In  fuch  a  place,  he  has  a  thoufand 
opportunities  of  learning  public  feelings,  which 
he  never  could  acquire  in  a  fequeflered  defart,  like 
the  paper-built  city  of  Wafhington,  even  fuppofmg 
that  he  were  to  read  all  thenewfpapers  in  the  Uni- 
ted States.  We  have  at  this  time  about  an  hundred 
and  twenty  newfpapers,  if  not  more  ;  and  hence, 
that  tafk  is,  in  it-elf,  impoflible.  It  is  by  mix- 
Ing  with  mankind  that  you  learn  how  to  legif- 
late  for  them,  hi  the  multitude  of  counjellors  there 
is  Jafety,  fdid  the  wife  man  ;  and  in  a  limited  fenfe, 
the  maxim  holds  good.  It  is  only  by  a  collision  of 
various  fentiments,  opinions,  habits  of  thinking  and 
views  of  life,  the  light  of  truth  is  finally  to  be 
ftruck  out. 

There  is  a  large  houfe  in  Philadelphia  which  the 
AfTembly  of  Pennfylvaniahad  deflgned  for  thePrefi- 
dent.  Mr.  Swanv/ick,  in  a  debate  about  this  fede- 
ral city  bill,  noticed  that  twenty  thoufand  dollars 
were  granted  to  build  it ;  but  nearly  twice  the  fum 
had  been  afked  for  it  fmce,  and  the  houfe  \snot yet 
finifhed. 

Veterans  who  fought  battles  for  America,  were 
glad  to  accept,  as  all  the  world  knows,  of  half- 
a-crown  in  the  pound  for  the  arrears  of  their 
dear-bought  wages.  Hundreds  of  petitions  are,  in 
the  courfe  of  every  fefllon,  prefented  to  Congrefs 
from  miferable  objects  of  all  forts,  who  were  redu- 
ced to  decrepitude  and  beggary  in  the  continental  fer- 
vice.  Government  cannot  relieve  all  thefe  people, 
bi:t  ftill  if  they  promoted  lotteries  for  that  end,  the 
money  would  be  more  honourably  beftowedthan  on 
a  capital,  which  has  already  coft  eighty  thoufand  dd- 
lars,  though  it  is  hardly  infible  above  ground  ! 

As  for  the  palace  of  the  Prefident,  the  plan  muft 


UiMlTED    STATES.  289" 

have  originated  with  fomebody,  who  wanted  to  let 
up  a  political  idol.  A  Prefident  is  the  very  laft 
man  in  the  comrn unity  for  whom  the  public  ought 
to  build  a  houfe,  becaufe  he  has  a  falary  five  times 
larger  than  that  of  any  other  public  officer  in  the 
union  ;  and  hence  can  afford  better  than  other  pub- 
lic officer  to  pay  the  rent  of  his  houfe. 

The  money  expended  on  palaces  at  the  federal 
city,  js  ahfolutely  caft  away.  The  Prefident  and 
Gongrels  are  already  as  well  accommodated  with 
lodgings  as  they  need  wi(h  to  be,  or  defer ve  to  be. 
There  is  no  ufe  for  fuch  extravagant  buildings. 
The  raifing  of  money  by  lotteries  is  the  mod  perni- 
cious reiburce  withinthe  range  of  political  infanity. 
The  erection  of  fuch  fabrics  tends  to  excite  a  tone 
of  ariftocracy  and  of  royalty,  to  which  mankind 
are  already  but  too  much  addicted. 

Dr.  Samuel  Johnfon  fays,  that  "to  build  is  to  be 
"  robbed."  We  cannot  expect  that  houfes  raifed 
for  a  government  will  be  carried  on  with  more 
economy  than  thofe  of  private  perfons.  Mr* 
Coit*  fays,  that  the  buildings  at  Wafhington  have 
been  commenced  on  an  extravagant  plan,  and 
that  he  hopes  the  commiflioners  will  be  obliged  to 
contratt  them.  Mr.  Sitgreaves,  in  the  fame  debate, 
allb  declares  that  the  eventual  expence  of  the  builr- 
dings  is  not  within  the  reach  of  calculation,  or  eveft 
ef  conjecture.  What  a  miferable  profpeft  is  yawn- 
ing before  us  ! 

Mr.  Havens  afked,  what  was  meant  when  it  was 
faidthat  there  exifted  an  obligation  of  going  to  this 
new  city  at  the  year  1800  ?  If  room  was  not  to  be 
had  in  it,  Congrefs  might  go  to  Georgetown.  They 
may  jufl  as  well  ft  ay  where  they  arc.  What  would 
they  be  at  ?  Poor  Richard  fays, 

*  See  debate  of  the  31(1  of  March?  1796. 


*?©.  HISTORY   OF   THE 

I  never  faxv  an  oft  removed  tree, 

Qt  yet  an  oft  removed  family, 

\Vhich  throve  fo  well,  as  thofe  that  fettled  be. 

Let  us  make  a  fuppofition  that,  before  the  end  of 
the  year  1800,  only  two  millions  of  dollars  are  ex- 
pended on  the  federal  city.  The  buildings,  as  has 
been  already  explained,  are  on  an  extravagant 
fcale.  The  United  States  could  do  as  well  without 
them . 

Put  two  millions  of  dollars  into  any  rational 
icheme  of  domeflic  improvement  in  the  .country, 
fuch  as  a  well  contrived  canal.  The  money  will 
yield  a  clear  profit  often,  twenty  or  thirty  per  cent. 
Take  it  at  the  lowed  rate,  and  with  ten  per  cent, 
©f  compound  interefl,  a  fum  doubles  itfelf  in  feven 
years,  fifty-two  days  and  an  half.  In  fifty  years, 
thefe  two  millions  of  dollars  will  double  them felves 
feven  times.  They  will  amount  to  two  hundred 
and  fifty-fix  millions.  In  an  hundred  years,  they  will 
amount  to  thirty-two  thoufand  feven  hundred  and 
fixty-eight  millions  of  dollars,  which,  at  that  sera, 
will  be  the  real  expence  of  the  city,  even  if  reftrio 
ted  only  to  the  original  two  millions.  This  com- 
putation fhews  the  folly  of  finking  a  capital  on  an 
object  which  is  both  unproductive  and  fuperfluous. 

At  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  federal 
quarries  above  ground  will  not  be  worth  fo  great  a 
fum;  nor  indeed  worth  what  they  originally  cojl. 
They  cannot,  like  a  high  road,  or  an  improved  farm, 
pay  a  large  intereft.  They  are  mere  unproductive 
marTes  of  brick  and  lime,  and  wood  and  flone,  the 
ipawn  of  lotteries  and  land  jobbing,  for  all  which 
fine  articles  Mr.  Theodore  Seclgwick  imagines 
it  our  duty  to  be  grateful. 

This  project  of  the  federal  city  has  been  examined 
at  fome  length,  becaufe  the  fubject  is  very  imper- 
fe&ly  understood,  and  becaufe  the  plan,  if  conrple- 


UNITED    STATES.  291 

ted,  mufl  end  in  deftroying  the  American  conftitu- 
tion.  The  monarchical  party  in  the  convention  of 
1 7  87,  had  the  following  clauiethruft  into  that  paper. 
<c  The,  Congrefs  (hall  have  power  to  exercife  EX- 
"  CLUSIVE  legiflation,  in  all  cafes  -whatjoever,  over 
*c  fuch  diftridl,  not  exceeding  ten  miles  Jquare^  as 
"  may,  by  ceffion  of  particular  flates,  and  the  ac- 
u  ceptan ce  of  Congrefs,  become  the  feat  of  govern- 
"  mentof  the  United  States."  A  like  claufe  was 
never  heard  of  before  in  the  conftitution,  or  prac- 
tical adminiftration  of  any  government  in  the  world. 
Suppofe  that,  at  the  Englim  revolution  of  1688, 
the  new  parliament  had  declared  themfelvesexclu- 
five  legiflators  over  a  fquare  often  miles,  and  of 
which  St.  Stephen's  chapel  was  to  be  the  centre., 
Exclusive  legislation  is  but  another  term  for  arbi- 
trary power,  becaufe  it  confounds  the  characters  of 
judge  and  legislator.  In  fo  fmall  a  fpace,  where 
parliament  were  fureto  fee  every  thing,  magiftrates 
would  have  been  nothing  but  their  tools  ;  and  jobs, 
defpotifm,  anarchy,  and  revolt  mu ft  have  enfued. 
The  citizens  of  London  and  Weftmkifter  would, 
in  two  or  three  years  at  the  utmoft,  have  laid  the 
new  government  on  its  back.  But  it  would  be  wrong- 
ing the  character  of  the  Englifh  nation  to  put  the 
fuppofition  that  a  claufe  fo  abfurd,  fo  fantaftical, 
fo  big  with  mifchief,  and  confuflon  could  ever  have 
paft  in  that  country.  Such  an  originality  was  re- 
lerved  forthe  fertile  brain  of  Alexander  Hamilton. 
In  the  convention  of  bolted  doors,  this  bauble  was 
part  of  the  compromife  and  facrifice  granted  by  Ma- 
difon  and  his  friends  to  the  royal  fatlion.  Being 
combined  with  better  materials,  it  was  without  re- 
flection accepted  by  the  citizens  of  America.  As 
a  parting  appeal  to  their  common  fenfe,  let  us  only 
figure  this  cafe,  that  the  ftatc  of  Pennfylvania  had 
ceded  to  Congrefs  a  diftrift  of  ten  miles,  including 


HISTORY    OF   THE 

this  city.  There  is  not  a  man  in  Philadelphia  who 
wiihes  to  fee  Congreis  erecled  into  its  exclufive  le- 
giflators. 

Their  ignorance,  their  caprice,  the  natural  info- 
lence  of  unlimited  authority,  would,  in  a  few  years, 
liave  thinned  the  rlreets  of  the  city.  If  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1795,  Congrefs  had  held  exclufive  legislation 
in  Philadelphia  the  evening  would  not  have  doled 
with  a  mower  of  brick-bats.  The  demounting  and 
diiarming  of  captain  John  MorrelJ,  of  the  china 
ware-houfe,  in  North  Front-ttreet,  and  his  being  fo 
bafely  pitched  into  Frog-pond  at  Kenfmgton,  might 
have  produced  a  general  mafTacre  of  the  citizens. 
The  fale  of  his  fword  for  fixper-ce,  on  his  declining 
to  reclaim  it,  might  have  eailly  been  turned  into  a 
high  crime  and  mii demeanour.  This  inference  be- 
comes very  probable,  when  we  contemplate  the 
bloody  maxims  of  our  American  DUKE  OF  ALVA*, 
Thus  much  for  the  federal  city. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1796,  the  bill  of  ap- 
propriation for  the  current  year,  having  gone 

*  Alexander  Hamilton  wimed,  "  that  the  people,  atfernbled  at 
*f  Braddock's  field,  had  burnt  Pitijlurgb."  Randolph's  Vindication, 
p.  83.  "  One  motive  affigned  in  argument,  for  calling  forth  thr  mi- 
««•  litia,  has  been,  that  a  government  can  never  be  fa  id  to  be  eftablim- 
l<  ed,  until fome  SIGNAL  DISPLAY  has  manifefted  its  power  ofW/- 
tf  tctry  coercion. t(  This  maxim,'*  adds  Randolph,  "  if  indulged,  would 
*•*  heap  curfes  upon  the  government,  The  Itrength  of  a  government 
".isthc  afFeclion  of  the  people/'  Ibid  p.  102.  The  maxims  and 
•willies  of  Mr.  Hamilton  exceed  any  fentiment  recorded  from  the 
hemp-crack-governor  of  the  Netherlands.  They  rather  approach 
to  the  comprehenfive  fublimity  of  Caligula. 

It  is  extremely  worthy  of  notice,  that  although  the  Gazette  of  the 
United  States  has  been  ccmftamly  railing  at  Randolph,  yet  no  deni- 
al has  ever  appeared  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  pailages  above  quoted. 
"It  is  no  wonder  that,  after  fnch  discoveries,  the  party  hate  him. 
They  fometimes  harp  upon  his  ftile.  It  is  at  loaft  far  fuperior  to 
thatwf  Mr.  Fenno's  auxiliaries.  If  Randolph  is  not  fo  acute,  fo 
terfe,  fo  critical,  and  fo  bniliant,  as  Thomas  Jefierfon,  yet,  in  his 
printed  correfpondence  with  Hammond,  he  writes  like  a  man  who 
meant  well,  and  who  felt  for  the  wrongs  of  his  country. 


UNITED    STATES.  293 

through  both  houfes,  was  approved  by  the  prefi- 
dent.  This  approbation  is  an  in iignifi cant  form.  The 
worft  laws,  as  well  as  the  bell  ones,  have,  for  feve- 
ral  years  pad,  conflantly  received  the  prelident's 
affirmative.  In  all  cafes  of  importance,  however,' 
his  will  is  previoufly  underflood  and  ftriclly  obey- 
ed by  a  majority  of  the  Senate.  There  may  have 
been  one  or  two  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but  none 
for  a  con fider able  tune.  In  the  cafe  of  Madifon's 
jfirft  refolution,  and  of  Mr.  Clarke's  bill;  for  prohi- 
biting commercial  intercouric  with  England,  the 
Senate  were,  indeed,  equally  divided,  and  the  ca£ 
ting  vote  of  Mr.  Adams  negatived  both.  But  here 
it  muft  be  fuppofed,  that  Mr.  Wafhington  had  kept 
himfelf  in  fufpence.  He  had  only  juit  parted  with 
Jefferfbn,  and  Hamilton  was  not  yet  completely 
fixed  in  the -laddie..  When  the  latter  fact  came  tp 
be  known,  every/^fertf/meafure  was  bolted  through, 
by  a  large  majority.  After  all,  when  two  legilla- 
tive  bodies  have  agreed  to  a  law,  it  is  below  their 
dignity  to  enquire  for  the  opinion  of  any  fingle 
man.  By  the  constitution,  a  prefident  who  wifhes' 
to  be  troublefome,  can  raile  confiderable  confufion. 
If  he  refuies  approbation,  the  law  is  fent  back  to 
Congrefs  ;  and,  unlefs  two-thirds  of  each  houfe 
fiiall  afterwards  agree  to  it,  the  law  becomes  void. 
It  is  very  feldom  that  fo  great  a  majority  unites 
upon  an  important  meafure.  The  Senate  confjfls, 
at  pretent,  of  thirty-two  members ;  and,  by  this 
clanfe  of  the  conftitution,  Mr.  Adams,  fupported 
by  eleven  fenators,  being  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  number,  could  prevent  the  pafling  of  any 
bill  which  he  did  not  like.  Thus  the  veto  of  twelve 
perfons,who  are  not  wifer  or  better  than  their  neigh- 
bours, might  in  every  inftance  over  weigh  the  whole 
Houfe  of  Reprefentatives,  though  fupported  by 
twenty-one  fenators.  This  is  one  of  the  miftakes 


294  HISTORY    OF   THE 

In  our  conftitution.  If  the  citizens  of  America 
could,  like  the  bees,  create  an  animal  of  faculties  fu~ 
perior  to  their  own,  this  veto  might  be  ufeful.  But 
in  the  late  and  prefent  mediocrity  of  prefidential  ta- 
lents, it  is  at  belt  an  expenfive  excrefence.  This 
fubfcription  of  the  laws,  and  a  trifling  or  ioflam- 
matory  fpeeeh  at  the  opening  of  each  feffion  of  Con- 
grefs,  is  almoft  the  only  real  duty  that  a  preiident 
his  to  perform.  The  bufmefs  of  (late  is  divided 
among  three  fecretaries,  and  we  underftand  from. 
Randolph  that  Mr.  Wafhington  ufed  to  hold  a 
meeting  with  them  oninterefting  points,  and  decide 
by  the  opinion  of  the  majority.  All  this  is  no  great 
matter.  JareJ  IngerfoJ,  or  the  fecretary  of  the 
llate  of  Pennfylvania,  or  any  counfellor  of  equal 
talents,  would  do  the  bufmefs  fully  as  well,  and 
think  himfelf  handfomely  paid  with  an  annual  fee 
of  a  thoufand  dollars*. 

*  The  account  might  ftand  thus : 

The  UiNITED  STATES,  D*. 

To  my  trouble  in  writing  and  reading  to  the  two  houfes  of 
congrefsa  fpeeeh  againtt  democratic  Societies, or  againft  the 
citizens  of  the  fouth  weftern  frontier,  or  againft  another 
fpeeeh  made  by  a  member  of  the  French  direclorv,  or 
concerning  my  friendlhip  with  John  Watts  and  Double- 
head,  or  in  praife  of  the  gallant  army  who  carried  off  one 
half  of  the  pots  and  pans  of  the  four  weltern  counties  of 
Pennfyivania,  and  who  burnt  every  rail  fence  within  their 
reach,  *  2j" 

To  my  fecretary  for  a  eleap  copy  of  ditto  fpeeeh,  -  5 

To  my  trouble  in  approving  of  fixty  afts  o/  congrefs,  dur- 
ing laft  feffion,  at  five  dollars  each,  -  -  300 

To  my  ftererary,for  announcing  thefame  to  the  two  houres, 

at  twenty-five  cents  each,  -  i  $ 

For  my  attendance  to  count  the  votes  of  the  triumvirate 
rmnifrry,  once  a  week,  during  fifty-two  weeks,  at  eight 
dollars  per  time,  -  - 

To  a  complete  fet  of  Gobbet's  Gazette,  of  the  Minerva,  of 
tht  Columbian  Centinel>.  of  the  Gazette  of  the  United 

Carried  over, 


UNITED    STATE'S.  295 

On  the  9th  of  February,  was  prefented  the  rop- 
inorial  above  inferted  from  the  fnuff-makers  of 
Philadelphia.  The  aft  of  which  they  complained 
exemplifies  the  remark  of  Montaigne,  that tc  there  is 
"  nothing  fo  commonly  or  fo  grofsly  faulty  as  the 
u  laws."  The  firft  of  the  two  ftatutes  in  queftion 
required  the  performance  of  impoffibilities.  For 
inltance,  the  ihufFmaker  was  to  fwear  to  a  daily  jour- 
nal of  the  fnuff  grinded.  To  be  able  ,to  do  io  he 
mud  have  taken  down  his  mill  at  the  end  of  every 
day's  work,  and  another  entire  clay  was  requifite  for 
putting  it  again  in  order.  Thus  between  taking  down 
and  Jetting  up,  the  (huff-maker  would  have  ipent 
four  or  fi\42  days  in  the  week  in  hard  work,  with- 
out grinding  one  ounce  of  (huff.  Mr.  Thomas  Lei- 
per,  and  his  fellow  fufferers,  had  not  logic  enough 
to  convince  Mr.  Hamilton,  Mr.&edgwick,  and  Dr. 
Smith,  of  this  rule  producing  a  hardfhip.  Other 
claufes  were  equally  flupid,  oppreffive,  and  imprac- 
ticable. A  ruinous  excife  on  refined  fugar  manu- 
factured in  America  had  been  blended  in  the  fame 
law  with  fnuff,  and  it  (till  remains  in  force.  In  a 
proof  flieet  of  the/7^/-/  hijlory  ofexcije,  it  was  fta- 

Brought  over,         761 

States,  and  of  the  works  of  MefTrs.  Harper  and  Gobbet, 
to  be  reforted  to  for  occafional  information,         -          -          loo 

To  my  trouble  in  figning  recalls,  and  appointments  of  for- 
eign ambaffadors,  e.  g.  the  recall  of  my  fen  from  Holland, 
for  which  he  had  received  an  outfit  of  nine  thoufand  dol- 
lars, to  my  trouble,  at  the  fame  time,  in  appointing  him 
ambaffador  to  Portugal,  with  a  fecond  outfit  of  nine  thou- 
fand dollars,  of  recalling  him  within  fix  weeks,  and  fend- 
ing him  to  Berlin,,  with  a  third  outfit  of  nine  thoufand 
dollars,  over  and  above  his  falaries,  -  120 

To  my  lofs  of  time  in  bowing  on  the  (treet  to  the  addi- 
tional acquaintances  whom  I  have  acquired  face  my  ap- 
pointm€nt>  -  -  JQ 

Total  dolls.         1000 


296  HISTORY    OF   THE 

ted  that,  afterpaying  the  duty,  there  woiild  not  re- 
main to  the  refiners  of  fugar  more  than  a  clear  pro- 
fit of  five  per  cent,  upon  the  capital  embarked  in 
their  bullnefs.  This  circnmilance  was  related  on 
the  authority  offomeofthe  principal  man ufaclii- 
rers  in  Philadelphia.  But,  on  a  reviial,  they  chofe 
to  ftrike  it  out  of  the  publication,  left  a  difdofure 
might  alarm  their  correfpondents,  and  injure  the  ge- 
neral interefl  of  the  trade.  This  was  in  the  fall  of 
1795.  Matters  have  certainly  been  improved,  or 
elfe  the  manufacture  muft  have  ft  opt,  as  that  of 
in n ff  actually  did.  The  fugar  boilers  could  have 
got  fix  per  cent,  for  their  money  in  the  common 
rate  of  intereit,  and  ten  times  that  ium  from  an  ex- 
porting flour  merchant. 

One  would  be  apt  to  believe  that  the  federal  mem- 
bers of  Congrefs  wanted  to  deflroy  altogether  Ame- 
rican manufactures.  The  paper  money  fyflem  is 
chiefly  theirs.  Twenty  millions  of  dollars,  fabri- 
cated out  of  old  rags,  are  now  circulating  about 
the  continent.  Of  thefe,  ten  millions  belong  to  the 
bank  of  the  United  States.  The  total  dividend  of 
all  thefe  banks,  as  flated  in  Congrefs  by  Dr.  Smith 
and  Mr.  Gallatin,  comes  to  two  millions  of  dollars 
per  annum.  The  expences  of  management  can 
hardly  be  lefs  than  five  hundred  thouland  dollars 
more.  This  enormous  tax,  for  juft  nothing  at  all, 
and  the  fcropholous  abundance  of  money  produced 
by  the  bank  capitals,  have  tended  extremely  to  im- 
pede the  progrefs  of  American  manufactures. 
Though  not  the  fole  caufe,  they  have  yet  been 
among  the  chief  caufes  that  raife  the  wages  of  la- 
bour in  America  fo  extravagantly  beyond  its  price 
in  Europe.  Some  leaders  of  the  federal  party  pof- 
Jefs  extenfive  concerns  in  the  bank  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  maturity  of  American  manufactures 
never  can  arrive,  till  wages  fall,  a/id  that  mufl 


UNITED    STATES.  297 

be  preceded  by  a  reduction  of  the  mafs  of  paper. 
Hence  thefe  leaders  wiih  to  encourage  the  importa- 
tion of  Britifh  goods.  The  merchants  who  import 
them,  alfb,  and  who,  in  general,  deteft  American 
rivalfhip,  are  in  conftant  habits  of  difcounting  at 
the  banks,  and  it  is  of  confequence  to  favour  fuch 
valuable  cuftomers.  Thefe  obvious  motives  tend 
to  make  the  federal  commanders  anxious  for  the 
clofeft  connexion  with  England.  The  fame  fcale 
of  argument  leads  them  to  abhor  the  French, 
among  whom  paper  currency  has  always  been  de£ 
pifed.  Hence,  among  other  reafons,  we  find  their 
conftant  inclination  to  revile  France*.  Hence 
their  enthufiaftic  zeal,  for  the  completion  of  Jay's 
treaty  to  which  the  journal  of  Congrefs  hath  now 
brought  us. 

Nothing  that  excited  general  attention  occurred 
in  Congrefs  from  the  trial  of  Randall  till  the  ift  of 
March.  On  that  day,  the  Preftdent  fent  a  mefTage 
to  each  houfe  informing  them  that  ratifications  of 
the  Britifh  treaty  had  been  exchanged  at  London, 
on  the  28th  of  October,  1795"  •  "  I  have  direttcd 
"  the  fame  to  be  promulgated/'  added  the  Prefi- 
dent,  "  and  herewith  tranfmit  a  copy  thereof  for 
"  ^^information  of  Congrefs."  This  was  clearly 
the  ftyle  of  a  public  officer,  who  confidered  his  au- 
thority on  this  point,  as  independent  and 


*  Camden,  In  his  hiftory  of  Elizabeth,  book  iv.  p.  443,  haa 
thefe  words.  "  The  French  lawyers  fay,  that  whatfoever  is  once  an- 
'<  nexed  to  the  crown  of  France,  doth  infeparably  adhere  to  it  for- 
c*  ever."  This  vindicates  the  republicans  from  a  fufpicion  of  innova- 
tion, when  they  refufe  to  reftore  the  Low  Countries  to  the  emperor. 

During  the  time  of  the  French  league,  Elizabeth  was  advifed  to 
attempt  the  conqueft  of  Picardy  and  Normandy.  "  She  heard  it," 
fays  Camden,  "  with  regret  and  diflike,  and  rejected  it  with  much 
««  indignation,  faying,  nubenfoevtr  the  lajl  day  of  the  kingdom  of  Franc^ 
«  cvmeth,  it  will,  undoubtedly  )  be  the  eve  of  the  definition  of  England*  '„ 
Ibid.  p.  444. 


HISTORY  OF  THE 
tionable.  He  had  complied  with  every  formality 
required  by  the  conftitution.  He  had  felefted  an 
ambaffador  for  England,  and  had  given  himinftruc- 
tions  as  a  rule  of  conduct.  The  conftitution  fays 
"  he  (hall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice 
"  and  confent  of  the  Senate,  (hall  appoint  ambafFa- 
u  dors."  The  prefident  had  announced  his  nomi- 
nation to  that  body.  They  were  mean  or  ftupid 
enough  to  acquiefce  in  the  appointment,  without 
once  aiking  for  what  purpofe  Jay  was  to  be  fent  to 
England,  or  demanding  a  copy  of  his  inftructions. 
This  (hewed  that  the  mefTage  was  but  an  empty 
form,  and  that,  in  the  particular  details  of  his  ne~ 
gociation,  the  Prefident  fcorned  to  hold  any  prefa- 
tory communications  with  them.  Here,  by  the 
way,  comes  out,  as  before  obferved,*  an  evidence 
of  hypocrify  towards  Genet.  Mr.  Wafhington  could 
not  negociate  with  the  French  envoy,  becauf®  the 
Senate  were  not  in  feffion.  Yet,  over  their  heads, 
he  fent  an  envoy  to  England,  without  letting  them 
tmderfland  one  line  of  his  directions.  This  was 
frankly  telling  the  republic  that  he  rejecled  their 
advances.  He  could  not  have  taken  a  more  ungra- 
cious, a  more  ungrateful  or  infatuated  ftep.  After 
fuch  coldnefs  and  contempt  on  our  part,  we  fhould 
fpeakwith  temper  about  the  republic.  Frenchmen 
have  never  been  celebrated  for  patience  ;  and  it 
can  leaft  of  all  be  expected  in  the  midfl  of  a  blaze 
of  victories,  which  reduce  Belifarius  and  Hannibal 
to  the  rank  and  file  of  conquerors. 

From  this  digreffion  we  go  back  to  Jay.  Recei- 
ving orders  from  the  Prefident,  and  a  fanclion  from 
the  Senate,  he  went  to  England  and  framed  a  trea- 
ty. On  its  arrival  here,  the  Senate,  and  Prefident, 
gave  in  due  time,  a  ratification.  They  exprefsly 

*  Supra  chap.  |. 


UNITED    STATES. 

look  the  whole  burden  upon  themfelves  ;  and  whe- 
ther Jay  obeyed  his  inftructions,  or  broke  them,was 
a  queftion  entirely  between  himfelf  and  the  Prefi- 
dent,  from  whom  exclufively  he  accepted  of  them. 
The  Senate  had,  beforehand,  refigned  all  right  of 
thinking  upon  the  fubjecl.  They  pofTefTed  no  fu- 
ture title  to  call  for  the  inftruclioBS.  The  fit  time 
for  that  demand  had  pafTed  away.  If  the  treaty 
proved  to  be  a  good  one,  it  was  quite  a  frivoloua 
enquiry,  whether  the  inftr unions  were  right  or 
wrong.  If  it  was  bad,  the  Prefident  flood  in  the 
gap,  and  they  could  difappoint  all  bad  effects  by  a 
rejection.  They  approved  of  the  whole  treaty,, 
one  article  excepted.  It  was,  thereafter,  ratified  by 
the  Prefident.  Here  the  character  of  thefe  two 
branches,  or  rather  of  thefe  two  fprigs  from  the 
trunk  of  reprcfentation,  was  completely  embarked. 

There  does  not  appear  any  folid  reafon  why  the 
Preddent,  in  the  Sequel,  fubmitted  Jay's  inflruclions 
to  the  Senate,  after  the  treaty  had  been  ratified. 
The  only  time  for  fuch  a  communication  was  be- 
fore Jay  failed  for  England.  The  inftrument  could 
only  ftand  or  fall,  not  by  the  tenor  of  the  inflruc- 
tions,  but  by  its  own  intrinfic  value.  The  tardy 
produftion  of  Jay's  orders  refembled  a  Chinefe 
marriage.  The  lover,  it  is  faid,  does  not  fee  his 
iniftrefs  till  after  the  wedding,  but  has  leave  to  fend 
her  home  again,  if  he  does  not  like  her.  The  Pre- 
fident could  only  fend  this  paper  as  a  matter  of  ci- 
vility. The  Senate  had  loft  their  right  of  calling 
for  the  inftruftions.  They  had  not  even  a  decent 
pretence  to  have  challenged  Jay»  He  atfted  as  pri- 
vate agent  to  Mr.Wafhington,  and  the  Senate  had> 
in  plain  juftice,  no  more  to  do  with  him,  than  the 
Prefident  had  with  his  fecretary,  Mr.  Trumbal. 

But  farther,  Jay  was,  upon  a  different  ground^ 
placed  beyond  the  reach  of  perfonal  confequences . 


goo  HISTORY    OF   THE 

Admitting  that  he  acted  with  the  wildelt  deviation 
from  his  orders,  yet  he  neither  did  nor  could 
do  any  thing  final.  If  the  Prefident  difapproved 
of  the  treaty,  iHll  he  had  only  to  refufe  it.  He 
could  have  fent  Grenville  a  copy  of  his  instructions 
to  evince  that  Jay  had  entirely  contradicted  them. 
This  muft  have  been  a  full  apology  for  his  negati- 
ving the  treaty. 

There  ftill  remained  one  point  of  view  in  which 
Jay  might  be  regarded  as  refponfible.  Suppofe 
that,  while  he  carried  on  a  negociation  contrary  to 
the  fpirit  of  his,  orders,  the  relative  condition  of  the 
two  parties  had  altered,  that  Britain  had  become 
flronger,  and  America  weaker,  or  that  fome  change 
in  the  condition  of  a  third  party  had  produced  a 
fimilar  effect.  In  that  cafe,  the  Houfe  of  Reprc- 
fentatives  might  have  addrefled  the  envoy  in  terms 
like  thefe ; 

u  It  is  true  that  you  acted  as  an  immediate  agent 

c  for  the  Prefident,  that  he  had  legal  authority  to 

c  employ  you,  and  that  he,  along  with  the  Senate, 

c  has  taken  upon  himfelf  the  total  refponfibility  for 

'  your  conduct.  In  common  matters  an  employer, 

<c  by  vindicating  his  .agent,    completely  covers  him 

*c  from  enquiry  ;  but,  in  your  affair,  there  is  fomc- 

>c  thing  particular  to  be  faid.     We  believe  that  you 

Ct<  difobeyedyour  orders,  that  you  treacheroufly  en- 

cc  tangled  the  Prefident  in  a  bargain  for  which  you 

<c  had  no  powers,  and  that  you  thus  forfeited  that 

"  impunity  annexed  to  the  character  of  HIS  agent. 

cc  He  received  your  production  with  every  feeling  of 

<c  fhame,  of  alarm,  and  indignation.     Agreeable  to 

<c  law  he  afTembled  the  Senate ;  and  they  and  he  fuc- 

<c  cedively  ratified  the  treaty,  under  the  dread  that 

<c  ifthey  rejected  it,  their  perfidious  and  formidable  . 

4C  enemy  would  pervert  their  refufal  into  a  pretence 

"  for  declaring  wart  Soflanding  the  cafe>  we  con* 


UNiTED  STATES.  301 

"  tend  that  in  fubftantial  equity,  you  have  not  been 

"  the  agent  of  Mr.  Wafhington,  but  of  lord  Gren- 

"  ville  ;  and  that  the  compulfive  operation  created 

'  by  your  perfidy  on  the  minds  of  the  Senate  and 

c  Prefident,  transferred  the  constitutional  refponfi^ 

"  bility    from  them   to  you.     The    charges    here 

5C  made  againft  you  are  matters  of  ftrongfufpicion, 

c  but  not  of  certainty.     We  are  in   want  of  evi- 

"  dence  either  to    fapport  or  to  refute  them.  We 

K  can  only  get  that  evidence  by  reforting  to  your 

"  inftr uftions,  for  you  can  only  be  impeached  on  the 

c  head  of  having  difobeyed  them,  and  of  your  difo- 

c  dienee  having  thereafter  mackled  the  delibera- 

L<  tions  of  the  Prefident  and  Senate.     For  the  pur- 

''  pofe  of  afcertaining  your    guilt   or  innocence, 

"  we  are    going  to  folicit  the  Prefident.     He  has 

tc  fcnt  thefe   papers  to  the  Senate.     He    cannot, 

c  therefore,  in  common  civility,  or  even  decency, 

c  deny  our  requeft.     Yet  we  hav/e  no  conftitution- 

".  al  right  of  demandingthe  paper.     The  power  of 

^making  treaties  has  been  excluiively  and  jointly 

c  vefted  in  the  Senate  and  in  him.     No   part  of 

fc  the   conftitution  requires  that  he  fliould  explain 

c  to  our  houfe  his   motives,  or   divulge,  unlels   by 

"  his  own  free  will,  your  inftruclions  and  fubfequent 

c  correfpondence.     If  he  withholds  thefe  means  of 

c  information  and  impeachment,  we  can  only  grum- 

c  ble  into  filence,  arid  bludi  at  the  contemptible  in- 

c  cenfe  of  adulation  that,  for  feven  years  pafl,  we 

a  have  piled  on  the  altar  of  Mount;  Vernon." 

The  above  is  apprehended  to  contain  a  fummary 
of  the  arguments  that  might  have  been  employed  in 
favour  of  impeaching  Jay.  The  ftrefs  lies  on  a£- 
certaining  that  the  Prefident  difliked  the  treaty,  and 
gave  it  a  reluctant  ratification.  On  this  point,  Ran- 
dolph affords  a  copious  evidence.  "  My  opinion," 
fays  Mr*  Waftungton,  u  refpefting  the  treaty,  is 


HISTORY    OF    THE 

€t  the  fame  now  that  it  was,  that  is,  not  favourable 
'c  to  it,  but  that  it  is  better  to  ratify  it  in  the  man- 
*c  ner  the  Senate  have  advifed,  than  to  fufFer  matters 
tc  to  remain,  as  they  are,  unfettled. — I  find  endea- 
ec  vours  are  not  wanting  to  place  it  in  all  the  odious 
<c  points  of  view  of  which  it  is  fufceptible,  and  in 
ec  fbrne  which  it  will  not  admit."  [This  is  plain 
enough.]  u  I  have  never,  fmce  I  have  been  in  the 

c  -d'niniftration  of  the  government,   feen  a  crifis, 
ficti  in  my  judgment  has  been  fo  pregnant  of 

c  iritereftirig  events,  nor  one  from  which  more  is 
<c  to  be  apprehended:  whether  viewed  on  cnefide 
ic  or  the  other. — Scarcely  a  day  pafTed,  that  he  (the 
cc  President)  did  not  enumerate  many  objections  to  it  ; 
Cc  objections  going  not  only  to  the  commercial  part, 

6  but  alfo  to  the  Canada  article,—  to  the  omiffion 
cc  of  compenfation  for  the  negroes  and  property 
<c  plundered,  and  to  fome  other  parts  of  lefs  confe- 
£C  quence."  It  would  be  ufelefs  to  heap  up  farther 
teftimony  that  the  Prefident  difapproved  of  Jay  and 
his  treaty,  and  that  he  agreed  to  it  only  to  prevent 
ibme  worfe  confeqnences. 

Having  fettled  this  point,  we  proceed  with  the 
journal  of  the  Reprefentatives.  On  the  ;th  of 
March,  1796,  the  houfe  took  up  a  refolution  mo- 
ved by  Mr.  Livingfton.  It  was  in  thefe  words  : 

"  Rejdived,  that  the  Preftdent  of  the  United  States 
<c  be  requefted  to  lay  before  this  houfe,  a  copy  of  the 
"  inftrutfions  to  the  miniRer  of  the  United  States 
cc  who  negociated  the  treaty  with  the  king  of  Great 
*c  Britain, communicated  by  his  mefTageof  fehefirft  of 
*c  March,  together  with  the  correfpondence  and  o- 
<c  ther  documents  relative  to  the  faid  treaty,  except- 
c£  ing  fuch  of  faicl  papers  as  any  exifting  negociation 
cc  may  render  improper  to  be  difclofed."  As  one 

*  Randolph,  p,  35?  36,  3$. 


UNITED    STATES.  303 

reafbn  for  this  motion,  Mr.  Livingfton  faid  that 
the  produftion  of  the  papers  would  determine  th$ 
houfe  whether  "  an  impeachment  would  be  deem- 
"  ed  advifeable*."  But  his  chief  reafon  was  "a 
"firm  conviftion  that  the  houfe  were  veiled  with 
"  a  difcretionary  power  of  carrying  the  treaty  into 
u  effect,  or  refufing  it  their  fan<fiion.  To  guide 
"  them  in  an  enlightened  determination  as  to  that 
u  point,  the  papers  are  neceffary  ;  they  would  cer- 
:c  tainly  throw  light  upon  the  fubjeft,  and  enable 
"  the  houfe  to  determine  whether  the  treaty  was 
"fitch  as  that  it  ought  to  be  carried  into  effeft* V 
Mr.  Livingfton  calls  the  latter  his  principal  reafon. 
He  did  not  fpeak  exactly  what  he  thought.  The 
papers  called  for  could  not  be  needful  to  guide  the 
determination  of  the  houfe,  as  to  whether  they 
fhould  fanftion  the  treaty,  for  nothing  but  its  indi- 
vidual merits  could  decide  for  or  againft  it.  But, 
fecond,  if  the  papers  were  needful,  the  houfe,  be- 
fore this  time,  had  virtually,  though  not  officially 
feen  them.  They  had  been  lying  for  foine  time  on 
the  table  of  the  Senate.  Many  Reprefentatives  had 
gone  up  flairs  and  read  them,  and  every  member 
was  acquainted  with  the  efTence  of  their  contents. 
Hence,  they  could  not  be  wanted  for  the  purpofe  of 
determining  an  opinion  about  the  treaty,  even  had 
its  fate  refled  on  fuch  a  difclofure. 

Mr.  Livingflon  well  knew  that  his  former  reafbn 
for  wanting  the  papers  was  almofl  equally  hollow, 
He  knew,  or  he  well  might  have  known,  that  an 
impeachment  was  not  advifeable.  The  fequel  of 
the  debates  difcovered  the  real  fenfe  of  his  party. 
The  projeft  of  impeachment  was  but  rarely  and 
faintly  dwelt  upon.  But  the  democrat ical  mem- 
bers had  other  aad  good  reafons  for  defiring  an  o£» 

*  JBache,  vol.  i,  p,  4,  t  Ibid,  p.  £, 


So4  HISTORY  OF   THE 

ficial  communication  of  the  inftruclions.  This 
would  have  fixed  the  perfidy  of  Jay  in  departing 
from  them.  Popular  refentment  at  his  behaviour 
would  have  rifen  to  the  higheft  pitch.  His  alledged 
preceptor,  Mr.  Hamilton,  would  have  been  involved 
in  the  clamour.  The  treaty  muft,  on  frefh  grounds, 
have  become  an  object  of  jealoufy  and  difguft ;  and 
this  addition  to  the  force  of  its  enemies  was  to  have 
enfured,  in  theHoufe  of  Reprefentatives,  a  refufal 
of  money  for  its  fulfilment. 

By  an  impeachment  of  Jay,  nothing,  in  common 
fenfe,  could  be  expected,  but  an  enormous  wade  of 
time  and  of  congreffional  wages,  a  pernicious  and 
endlefs  delay  in  the  routine  of  private  bufmefs,  and 
finally,  a  triumphant  acquital  of  the  envoy.  In  de- 
fiance of  all  imaginable  teftimony,  the  Britifh  trea- 
ty majority  in  the  Senate  were  fnre  to  have  pro- 
nounced him  guiltlefs.  Look  at  their  extrufion  of 
Albert  Gallatin,  at  their  fraternal  embrace  of  Meff. 
Gunn  and  Marfbal  ! 

Thus  it  appears  that  Mr.  Livingfton  could  hope 
for  nothing  from  an  impeachment,  and  he  as  little 
needed  the  inftructions*  to  complete  his  opinion  of 
the  treaty,  lhat  opinion  had  been  long  fmce  matu- 
red. It  is  difficult  to  keep  from  fmiling  when  we  per- 
ceive an  intelligent  legiflator  (landing  up,  and  give- 
ing  all  reafons  but  the  real  one,  in  defence  of  his  re- 
folution.  The  debate  lafted,  with  fome  intervals, 
from  the  yth  of  March  to  the  7th  of  April,  both  in- 
clufive;  and  the  report  occupies  three  hundred  and 
eighty-{}x  clofe  printed  octavo  pages.  This  is  the 

*  In  the  debate  of  the  2ift  of  March,  Mr.  Williams  obferved 
that  "  for  the  fpace  of  ten  weeks,  any  member  of  that  houfe 
"  might  have  feen  them,"  Bache,  vol  i.  p.  236,  But  the  great  lofs 
*vas,  that  no  member  could,  from  fuch  infpeftion,  venture  to  quote 
them  in  the  Houfe  of  Reprefentatives.  He  would  have  been  cal- 
led to  order,  and  obliged  to  fit  down. 


UNITED    STATES.  305 

American  mode  of  managing  Jeghlative  debates, 
In  a  Britifh  Houfe  of  Commons,  the  qtieftion  could 
hardly  have  been  protracted  beyond  fix  o'clock  on 
afecond  morning; 

Mr.  William  Lyman  rofe  next  after  Mr.  Living- 
fton.  He  jkfjnded  the  refolution.  One  of  his  ar-> 
guments  was,  that  pofiibly  the  papers  "  might  throw 
ct  fuch  light  as  co  produce  a  very  great  degree  of 
<c  unanimity  relative  to  ttiat  inftrument  (viz.  the 
"  treaty).  Such  circumftances  might  poffibly  be 
"  difciofed  as  to  reconcile  thofe  now  oppofed  to  it, 
44  and  who  might  otherwife  remain  irreconcilable. 
ec  If  the  refolution  tended  only  to  this  object  it  was 
cc  effecting  a  valuable  purpofe."  Mr.  Lyman  held 
the  treaty  in  notorious  deteilationj  fo  that  this 
argument  was  mere  hypocritical  canting.  The 
unanimity  which  he  deiired  and  expected  from  a 
production  of  the  papers  was  not  for  the  treaty,  but% 
againft  it.  As  to  impeachment,  Mr.  Lyman  fpoke 
not  one  word.  Mr.  Giles  on  the  fame  fide,  follow- 
ed. He  did  not  contemplate  impeachment  "  as  the 
cc  probable  ifliie,  but  the  information  might  tend, 
c  perhaps,  to  reconcile  thofe  now  averfe  to  the  in- 
"  ftrunient.?>  This  gentleman  fpoke  with  as  little 
fincerity  as  the  two  former.  We  may  obferve 
how  very  foon  the  Madifonians  began  to  file  away 
from  their  impeachment. 

Mr;  Murray  fucceeded  Mr.  Giles.  He  oppofed 
the  refolution.  ^He  denied  the  right  of  the  houfe 
R>  intermeddle  in  treaties,  unlefs  thefe  were  alled- 
ged  to  be  unconftitutionaL  He  objefled  the  general 
impolicy  of  expofing  fecrets  of  flate.'  Mr.  Murray- 
is  a  moderate  and  fenflble  fpeaker;  but,  with  all 
his  fondnefs  for  fecrecy,  he  would  Certainly  have 
voted  for  the  refolution,  if  its  real  objecl:  had  beea 
to  promote  tke  fuccefs  of  the  treaty. 

Mr.  Buck,  another  friend  to  Jay,  took  the  fame 
fide,  "  but  not  from  an  apprehenfioa  that 

R  r 


306  HISTORY   OF   THE 

cc  pers  referred  to  will  not  bear-  the  public  fcrutiny  * 

"  or  from  a  belief  that  there  would  be  the  lead  rc- 

'  luctance  on  the  part  of  the  executive  to  deliver 
"  them."  Here  the  mil  fentenceof  Mr.  Buck's  ha- 
rangue contained  two  direcl  untruths.  He  knew  that 
the  papers  would  not  bearfcrutiny*.  He  knew,  and 
and  fo  did  every  perfon  in  the  houfe,  that  Mr. 
Wafhingt on  would  be  alhamed  and  unwilling  to  give 
them  up.  It  was  for  thefe  very  reafons,  which  Mr. 
Buck  fet  out  with  difowning,  that  he  oppofecl  the 
refolutlon. 

Thus  the  combatants  went  on.  They  interperfed 
much  extraneous  matter,  with  pretended  arguments 
on  each  fide, which,  as  in  the  five  cafes  already  cited, 
the  orator  himfelf  held  in  fovereign  contempt,  and 
which  every  man  who  heard  him  knew  that  he  de- 
fpifed.  Some  fpeeches  deferved  a  better  character, 
but  the  limits  of  this  volume  do  not  permit  farther 
criticifm.  At  a  future  time  it  may  be  convenient  and 
inftruftive  to  trace  the  obliquities  of  congrefFional 
difcuffion.  The  pompous  petulance  and  Ifcariot- 
like  malignity  of  Buckt,  the  plaufible  fhipidity  and 
felf-important  ignorance  of  Sedgwick,  the  pregnant 

*  Such  as  the  two  cards  upon  impreiTment.  Supra  chap.  5.  t(  Was 
f-<  it  unknown,  that  tboufands  of  our  failors  have  been  occasionally 
t(  enflaved  by  the  imprefs  tyranny  of  the  Britifh  government  ?  Or, 
t(  that  tkoujands  have  loft  their  lives  in  noxious  prifons,  while  their 
<•  veffels  were  carried  into  Britifh  ports  for  legcd  cj-udication?"  Fea- 
tures of  Jay's  treaty,  feftion  3d. 

"  In  all*  my  vaft  reading,"  as  Dr.  Wagtail  fays,  this  pamphlet, 
both  as  to  (tile  and  matter,  is  confiderably  the  bell  which  has  ap- 
peared either  for  Jay  or  againft  him.  Candid,  elegant,  comprehen- 
five,  and  concife,  its  accuracy  gratifies  the  moft  informed,  while  its 
perfpicuity  convinces  the  plaincft  reader.  Yet  Mr.  Dallas  has  a  ma- 
terial defect.  His  extreme  referve  and  delicacy  are  entirely  caft  away 
upon  fuch  enemies  as  Wilcocks,  Webfter,  Curtius,  and  Camillus,  on 
the  ftupid  malignity  too  frequentin  Mr.  Fenno's  Gazette,  and  on  the 
illiterate  brutality  of  the  Columbian  Centinel. 

t  A  ihort  memoir  of  this  gentleman,  tranfmitted  from  Vermont? 
has,  for  theprcfent  volume,  been  laid  afide. 


UNITED   STATES.  307 

vacuity,  and  elegant  loquacity  of  Harper,  often 
approaching  to  good  fenfe,  yet  almoft  never  get- 
ting up  to  it,  hold  out  prominent  materials  for  amu- 
fing  iHuflration.  But  the  number  of  refpectable 
fpeakers  was  greatly  fuperiorto  that  of  luch  phan- 
toms as  thefe.  In  general,  a  member  ofCongrefs 
hath  fufficient  prudence  either  to  hold  his  tongue, 
or  to  tell  his  fentiments  in  a  way  which  does  not 
make  him  ridiculous. 

On  Thurfday,  the  24th  of  March,  1796,  a  divi- 
fion  took  place  ifi  a  committee  of  the  whole  houfe 
on  this  refolution  to  call  for  Jay's  inftr uclions  and 
correfpondence.  It  pafTed  by  fixty-one  votes  againft 
thirty-eight.  This  was  a  majority  unufual  on  great 
political  queftions.  When  fome  victim  who  has 
been  reduced  to  beggary  by  the  late  war,  or  ibme 
French  officer  who  neglected  to  call,  in  due  time, 
for  his  arrears  of  pay,  has  the  weakncfs  to  folicit 
Gongrefs,  a  negative  pafTes  with  unanimity,  or  fome- 
thing  like  it.  But  in  matters  of  high  political  im- 
port, the  majority  runs,  for  the  moft  part,  very 
clofe.  The  refolution  pad  in  the  houfe  by  flxty- 
two  votes  againft  thirty- feven.  On  the  2yth  of 
March,  it  wasprefented  to  the  Prefident.  On  the 
3oth,  he  fent  a  refufal  of  the  papers.  His  meffage 
mifquoted  and  perverted  the  requefl  of  the  houfe 
into  a  pofitive  demand,  and  then  pretended  to  refufc 
what  had  not  been  afkedt.  Their  behaviour  gave 
Mr.  Wafliington  reafon  to  defpifethem.  The  de- 
bates that  lafted  for  eight,  ten,  or  twenty  days 
about  an  anfwer  to  his  annual  ipeech  dilhonoured 
the  whole  body.  His  refufal  of  the  inflruclions 
was  to  conceal  the  difobedience  of  Jay,  and  his 
own  tamenefs  in  bearing  it. 

The  majority  of  fixty-t wo  ought  to  have  received 
the  meffage  with  filent  diidain,  and  prohibited  their 

t  Sec  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  xi,. 


308  HISTORY   OF   THE 

clerk  from  inferring  it  on  the  journals.  Without 
oftenfible  interference  they  could  have  fent  to  prefs 
a  copy  of  the  inftru&ions.  Thefe  would  have  dais- 
ted  through  the  newfpapers  with  the  velocity  of 
lightning.  An  abortive  attempt  to  conceal  this  pa- 
per muft  have  enfured  its  univerfal  perufal.  A  vic- 
tory to  the  publifhers  was  the  natural  confequence. 
The  people  would  have  refented  the  difobedience 
of  Jay,  the  pusillanimous  acquiefcence  of  the  Prefi- 
dent,  and  his  ill-concerted  fcheme  for  fupprefling  in- 
formation. While  they  fympathized  with  the  af- 
"fronted  reprefentatives,  a  few  well  written  efTays 
might  have  matured  into  effe&ive  fervice  the  germ 
of  indignation  ;  ar\d  the  treaty  aud  its  allies  had 
funk  into  the  dud. 

But  the  majority  poffefTed  not  one  maa  with  the 
refources,  firrrmefs  and  activity  of  colonel  Hamilton . 
The  party  feemed  fludious  to  diiplay  more  than 
their  ufual  inferiority  pf  addrefs  and  boldnefs.  Ne- 
ver was  a  critical  moment  more  miferably  cad  away. 
Indead  of  a  glowing  declaration  that  they  contem- 
ned the  refufal,  initead  of  fome  fpirited  harangues 
to  animate  their  partifans  without  doors,  thrir  tre- 
mulous and  trimming  meafures  towards  a  faclion 
whofe  animofities  are  immortal,  betrayed  their  to- 
tal want  of  energy,  depreffed  their  friends,  encou- 
raged their  enemies,  and  paved  the  way  for  tfeeir 
own  approaching  downfall.  They  did  not  perceive 
that  the  public  had  become  tired  of  thefe  de- 
bates, that  farther  haggling  and  wrangling  would 
only  increafe  that  difguft,  and  raife  the  mefTage  to 
an  unmerited  importance,  and  that  'filent  contempt 
was  the  plained  way  to  render  it  defpi cable. 

On  the  6th  of  April  two  refolutions* were  brought 
forward.     The  meaning  of  the  fird  was,  that  the 
,  if  they  could  hold  thernfelves  together^ 

5  See  them  in  Bache's  Debates, 'vol.  i.  p.  374, 


UNITED    STATES.  309 

would  refufe  money  for  fulfilling  Jay's  treaty.  The 
fecond  implied,  that  when  the  houfo  defired  the  ex- 
ecutive to  let  them  have  the  in  (Ir  nations,  they  were 
not  obliged  to  tell  for  what  purpofe  the  paper  was 
wanted.  Madifon  explained  and  enforced  the  re- 
folutions  with  that  fuperior  knowledge,  ingenuity, 
and  eloquence,  which  have  fo  often  illuftrated  and 
adorned  the  tranfaftions  of  Congrefs.  Next  day, 
they  were  paft,  ayes  fifty-feven,  noes  thirty-five. 
They  were  not  worth  »one  half  cf  the  trouble 
which  they  coft.  To  illuminate  and  brace  the  minds 
of  the  people  it  would  have  been  better  to  propofe 
the  ftriking  twenty  thoufand  dollars  from  the  preil- 
dent's  falary .  Mr.  Adams,  as  a  premium  for  his  two 
Britifh  negatives,  might  have  been  reflri&ed  to 
twelve  dollars  per  day  during  the  fitting  of  Con- 
grefs. This  is  the  allowance  to  a  fpeaker  of  the 
reprefentatives,  a  character  of  more  real  ufe,  and 
who  bears  more  a&ual  drudgery  than  the  Senate 
and  their  vice-prefident  put  together.  Such  refb- 
lutions  could  not  have  been  carried,  but  the  bare 
proppfal  would  have  conveyed  an  important  hint, 
A  contrail  might  have  been  run  between  an  old 
ibldier  with  the  palfy  and  feven  dollars  and  an  half 
per  annum,  or  his  widow  with  fix  ragged  children, 
and  Mrs.WaftiingtongofTipping  for  a  whole  evening 
at  the  national  expence,with  fifty  or  an  hundred  and 
fifty  women,  while  fnuff-mills  and  fu gar- bakeries 
were  cafl  idle  by  the  approbation  of  her  huiband. 

Treaties  had,  within  a  fhort  tkne,  been  enter- 
ed into  by  the  United  States  with  Britain,  with  Al~ 
giers,  with  Spain,  and  with  thofe  Indians  whom 
Wayne  defeated  at  fort  Miamis.  On  the  1 3th  of 
April,  1796,  Mr.  Sedgwick  moved  a  refolution 
that  provifion  fliould  be  made  for  carrying  thefe 
treaties  into  effeft.  He  meant  that  the  houfe  ought 
to  vote  fums  of  money  for  that  end,  and  his  view 
in  bundling  the  whole  four  treaties  into  one  refolu-~ 


gio  HISTORY    OF   THE 

tion  was  that  they  might  (land  or  fall  together, 
Thisrefolution  produced  warm  debates.  Several 
amendments  were  fug-gelled  and  difcuffed.  Of 
thefe  a  particular  detail  can  hardly  intcreil  an  ordi- 
nary reader.  The  whole  proceedings  have  been 
minutely  compiled  by  Mr.  Bache,  and  deferve  to 
be  ftudied  by  every  future  candidate  for  a  feat  in 
Congrefs.  For  this  place,  it  is  enough  to  fet  in  one 
luminous  point  of  vi'ew  the  a&ual  objefts  of  the  op- 
polite  parties.  The  news  of  the  Spanilh  treaty  had 
been  received  in  America  with  univerfal  exultation. 
it  was  to  open  the  navigation  of  the  weftern  waters, 
of  which  the  king  of  Spam  had  hitherto  been  the 
jailor.  The  Indian  and  Algerine  treaties  were  ra- 
ther convenient  than  advantageous,  but  as  their 
terms  gave  general  fatisfaction,  no  doubt  was  en- 
tertained that  money  would  be  voted  to  fulfil  them. 
A  refufal  was,  of  neceffity,  to  fubjecl:  the  union  to 
Immediate  piracy  and  warfare.  But  it  was,  in  all 
refpefts,  quite  otherwife  with  the  Britifh  treaty.  A 
general  and  violent  oppofltion  had  appeared  againft 
it.  A  complexity  of  principles  ,was  involved  in  its 
difcuflion .  Hitherto,  moft  reprefentatives  had  pro- 
feded  to  diflike  it,  and  a  delay,  or  even  a  rejection, 
could  not  reafonably  be  fwppofed  to  produce  war, 
when,  by  the  conqueil  of  Holland,  the  extirpation  of 
her  armies  in  Europe  and  the  Weil-Indies,  the  fear- 
city  of  money,  and  the  difcontent  of  her  people, 
England  was  evidently  daggering  on  the  brink  of 
ruin. 

The  fcheme  of  the  federal  members  was  to  blend 
thefe  negociations  in  one  mafs.  Their  arguments 
and  motives,  when  flri.pt  of  the  loquacious  ma£- 
querads  common  to  both  parties,,  might  be  exprei- 
fed  thus: 

tc  'We  have  on  the  table  before  us  four  treaties. 
<c  Of  thefe,  three  are  equally  acceptable  to  the  wholer 
<c  houfe-  but  you  want  to  Fulfil  them?  and  to  rejeft 


UNITED    STATES.  311 

f<  the  fourth.     We  are  as  defirous  as   you  can  be 

46  for  friendfhip  with  Spain,  and  for  peace  with  Al- 

<c  giers  and  the  Indians.     But   our  Britifh  treaty, 

cc  that  you  propofe  to  deftroy,  is  of  infinitely  grea- 

"  ter  importance  incur  eyes  than  all  the  others  col- 

u  leclively,  and  the  intereft  and  independence  of  our 

c  country  into  the  bargain.     Grenvilie  has  adver- 

u  ted  to  you,  as  American  jacobins,  and  has  aflu- 

c  red  the  toad-eating  Thomas  Pinckney  that  a  Bri- 

<£  tifli  army  fliall,  if  we  requeft  it,  be  lent  over  to 

5-6  cvufli  you.     But  if  we  reject  this  treaty,  that  aid 

cc  cannot  be  expected  ;  and  that  twilight  of  our  po- 

<c  litical  millenium  fhall   be  forever  extinguifhed, 

cc  while  fo  fignal  a  defeat  on  the  floor  ofCongrefs 

'  will  give  a  mortal  blow  to  the  power  which  we  at 

4C  prefent  pofTefs.     Mankind    will   begin  to  think 

'*  and  aft  about  us  with  common  fenfe.     They  will 

4C  demand  a  publication  of  the  books  of  the  'treajury* 

'  They  will  no  longer  pay  intereft  for  forty  inil- 

c  lions  of  dollars  of  domeftic  debt  to  creditors,  till 

c  they  (hall  have  learned  who  thefe people  are  ?  And 

c  whether  William  Smith,  or  Izard,  or  Hillkoufe* 

cc  or  Sedgwick,  has  waded  fartheft  into  the  funds? 

This  profpeft  is  terrible.     To  avert  it  we  fliall 

c  fail  or  conquer  by  theiide  of  tile  treaty.     If  that 

cc  cannot  be  carried,  we  fliall   rejoice  in  blocking 

c  up  the  Miffiffippi,  !n  whetting  the  tomohawk,  in 

c  glutting  the  pirates  of  Barbary  with  the  plunder 

cc  of  our  commerce." 

The  refolution  was  negatived.  The  three  trea- 
ties were  agreed  to.  Afecondferies  of  debates  occur- 
red as  to  the  granting  of  money  for  fulfilling  Jay's 
treaty.  This  ended  on  the  lirft  of  May,  1796.  The 
appropriations  paft,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  by 
the  cafting  vote  of  the  chairman,  Mr.  Muhlenberg, 
the  votes  of  members  being  forty-eight  on  each 
fide,  In  the  houfe,  this  appropriation  paft  by  fifty- 


HISTORY    OF*THE 

one  votes  againft  forty-eight.  Some  even  of  tint 
narrow  majority,  declared  their  entire  difapproba- 
tion  of  the  treaty.  The  general  zeal  excited  in  its 
favour,  and  the  probability  that  the  fix  per  cent, 
citadel  of  Connecticut  would  have  burft  into  a^ual 
rebellion"*,  were  forcible  reafons  in  favour  of  adop- 
tion.  The  multitude  and  ftile  of  the  addreffes 
to  Congrefs  in  its  behalf  were  fufficient  to  make 
thoughtful  members  doubtful  as  to  rejecting  it.  Mr. 
Muhlenberg  has  been  highly  blamed  for  his  vote  on 
this  queflion.  By  an  uniform  tenor  of  con  duel, 
fince  1789,  he  had  already  offended  the  oppofite 
party  beyond  all  hope  of  forgivenefs.  But  on  this 
emergency,  he  preferred  the  fecurity  of  internal 
peace,  even  to  the  approbation  of  his  confHtueitfs. 
He  had  candidly  dated  his  ideas  in  feveral  private 
meetings  of  members  previous  to  the  final  vote. 

The  ielfion  rofe  on  the  ift  of  June,  1796.  Bri- 
tifli  depredations  diti  not,  as  had  been  fondly  fore- 
told, ccafe  after  the  appropriations  had  pad  for  the 
treaty.  As  one  of  its  confequences  the  French  be- 
gan fcon  after  to  difturb  our  trade.  The  weftern 
pofts  were,  however,  delivered  up.  The  general 
election  for  Congrefs,  and  that  for  aPrefident,  the 
difference  between  the  French  minifler  and  the  Ame- 
rican executive,  were  among  the  chief  events 
which  occurred  till  the  next  meeting  of  Congrefs, 
which  was  on  the  5th  of  December  1796. 

*  Supra,  chap.  2d.  See  alfo,  the  fpirit  of  fome  people  in  thatftate, 
in  the  American  Annual  Regifter,  chap.  6th. 


ERRATA. 

On  p.  1 64,  third  line   from  the  bottom>  read  "  the  American 

monied  inter*,  ft.", In  the  note  on  page  232,  eleventh  line  from  the 

bottom,  read  "  A  minority  declined  to  pafs  an  afi  for  tfa  calling  of  a 

"  cortwentux)  in  6rder  to  its  acceptance,"  &c. On  page  26o;  third 

line  from  the  bottom,  read  '*  amounted,  in  1794*  to,"  £c. 


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